Palestine Solidarity Campaign Slams Starmer’s Conditional Pledge on Palestinian Statehood

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) on Wednesday denounced UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s conditional pledge to recognize a Palestinian state, calling it “shameful” and “grotesque.”

Starmer said the UK would formally recognize a Palestinian state in September — but only if Israel fails to reach a ceasefire with Hamas, among other stipulations. The PSC condemned this framing, asserting that the Palestinian right to self-determination is an “inalienable right” and should not be contingent on Israel’s actions.

“Placing Palestinian statehood within the context of Israel’s behavior is disgraceful,” the group said in a statement. “It reduces a fundamental human right to a political bargaining chip.”

The PSC linked Starmer’s apparent shift in tone — echoing recent comments by French President Emmanuel Macron — to mounting public pressure in the UK. Mass protests calling for a ceasefire and condemning British support for Israel have taken place in cities across the country since the outbreak of war in Gaza in October 2023.

Protesters have increasingly targeted the UK’s military and economic ties with Israel, including campaigns for divestment from companies supplying the Israel Defense Forces. The PSC emphasized that UK-manufactured weapons are being used in Israel’s offensive in Gaza, contributing to what they described as “the complete devastation of Gaza’s infrastructure and the mass killing of civilians.”

“British politicians are now expressing dismay at the horrors in Gaza, while continuing to fuel the violence through arms trade and tepid sanctions against a handful of Israeli officials — as though genocide can be blamed on just a few bad apples,” the PSC said.

The group dismissed Starmer’s pledge as hollow, accusing him of offering “symbolic gestures” in place of meaningful change. “It tells Palestinians: statehood may come — but only after countless more deaths,” the statement said.

Rather than marking a turning point, the PSC argued, Starmer’s announcement is “yet another act of collusion with Israel’s campaign of ethnic cleansing,” and falls far short of justice or accountability.

Calling for immediate action, the PSC urged the UK government to push for an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza and to impose a total arms embargo on Israel.

“Keir Starmer cannot claim to support Palestinian self-determination while enabling Israel’s destruction of their homeland,” the group said. “The British public will not be misled by this performative politics.”