Thousands of British voters pressed MPs over Palestine vote: Campaign group

Ahram Online in London, Friday 17 Oct 2014

British MPs voted overwhelmingly to recognise independent Palestinian state in non-binding vote

UK Parliament votes to recognise Palestine, Oct. 13, 2014 (Photo courtesy of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in UK)

The British parliament’s vote this week to recognise an independent Palestinian state was partly due to huge pressure from British voters, a UK-based pro-Palestine campaign organisation has said.

On 13 October, 274 members of parliament voted in support of the motion and 12 voted against.

The motion read: “This house believes that the government should recognise the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel as a contribution to securing a negotiated two state solution.”

Although the vote is not binding on the British government, the six-hour parliamentary debate showed that many MPs support Palestinian statehood.

“57,808 voters emailed their MPs to ask them to vote for Palestine,” the Palestine Solidarity Campaign announced in a statement following the vote.

Those voters used the campaign’s email tool to contact their MPs, the pressure group said.

Thousands of other voters have contacted their MPs through other different ways.

The pressure group, which is not allied with any political parites, has been urging its supporters to keep their pressure on MPs to promote Palestinian rights.

“Contact them now and ask them to champion Palestinian human rights by supporting an end to the arms trade with Israel and barring Israel’s illegal settlement goods from being imported into Britain”, the statement reads.

According to the House of Commons records, more than half of its members did not take part in the debate or vote on the motion.

Through its website, PSC makes available to the British voters an easy way to check if their MPs didn’t vote for the motion.

“Write to your MPs, tell them how important the vote was to you, and ask them why they didn't take part,” read the statement.

Although Prime Minister David Cameron voted to abstain, 40 MPs from his ruling Conservative party - including some members of the informal grouping the Conservative Friends of Israel - backed the recognition motion.

Although some pro-Palestinian voices have been sceptical about the impact the vote will have on British foreign policy, the pressure group urges optimism.

“It is only a matter of time before the government will have to change its policies,” the statement read.