Dr Roz Savage

Dr Roz Savage

Liberal Democrat — South Cotswolds

Speaking in the House of Commons on 16 December 2024

Debate

Israel and Palestine

Contribution

I shall come to that shortly. The UK bears a unique historical responsibility in this matter, stemming from the Balfour declaration of 1917. The declaration spoke of creating a national homeland for Jews in Palestine, but it was silent on Palestinian political rights, setting the stage for decades of conflict. It paved the way for the Nakba, or catastrophe, in 1948, when 750,000 Palestinians were driven out of their homes. The UK Government’s position on Palestinian statehood, as stated by the Foreign Secretary on 30 July this year, is: “We want a credible and irreversible pathway towards a two-state solution: a safe, secure Israel alongside a viable, sovereign Palestinian state. We are committed to recognising a Palestinian state as a contribution to a peace process, at a time that is most conducive to that process.”—[Official Report, 30 July 2024; Vol. 752, c. 1150.]

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