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"Thank you Britain. But it's too late" - Why Palestinians don't trust Starmer's promises

2025-08-03 15:04:50Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
"Thank you Britain. But it's too late" - Why Palestinians
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Jeremy Bowen, BBC

One of the main reasons that British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, following France and then Canada, has a plan to recognize the Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September is to turn the two-state solution into a real diplomatic plan and not just an empty slogan, as it has remained since the collapse of the Oslo peace process 25 years ago.

A day in the West Bank is a stark reminder of how the fact that Israel was created to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state is embedded in the rocky hills and valleys where Palestinians want to create their own state.

The great national project that Israel launched immediately after the occupation of territories in the 1967 Middle East war is visible through the Jewish colonies that today house over 700,000 Israelis.

This process has lasted almost 60 years, cost billions of dollars, and has been condemned not only by enemies but also by allies. The settlement of residents of an occupying state on land it has occupied is a violation of international law.

Last year, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion that the entire occupation is illegal.

But Benjamin Netanyahu's government wants more settlements. In late May, Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced the construction of 22 new settlements in the West Bank.

Katz described this massive expansion, the largest in decades, as a "strategic move that prevents the creation of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel and serves as a shield against our enemies."

Alongside Katz was ultranationalist leader Bezalel Smotrich, who lives in a settlement in the West Bank and believes the land was given to the Jews by God. He is finance minister and de facto governor of the West Bank with broad planning powers.

Smotrich called the expansion of the colonies "a decision of a generation."

In Israel and among Palestinians in the territories, it is known that when Smotrich and his allies talk about “sovereignty,” they mean annexation.

Smotrich demands all lands for Jews and has openly discussed ways to expel Palestinians.

"We were very, very scared"

On hill after hill in the West Bank there are settlements in various stages of development, from small developed towns with kindergartens and schools, to small settlements with a few caravans and young residents with radical religious and nationalist beliefs, armed and aggressive towards their Palestinian neighbors.

Statistics from the UN and peace activists show that violent attacks by settlers have increased since the October 7 attacks.

I went to Taybeh, a completely Christian village with about 1,500 inhabitants.

The village is quiet and appears to have many more houses than inhabitants, as during the nearly six decades of Israeli occupation many residents have been forced to emigrate.

Two nights before the visit, settlers entered the village while most people were sleeping. They burned Kamal Tayea's car and tried unsuccessfully to enter his new house, part of a pleasant development overlooking olive groves. They wrote in red graffiti on the wall.

Kamal, a middle-aged man who is reconsidering whether it was a wise choice to move his family to the edge of the village, is installing security cameras.

"We were very, very scared. I have children and an elderly mother. Our lives were in danger and it was terrifying," he said.

I asked him if Britain's plan to recognize Palestine would make his life easier.

"I don't think so. It's a big step for a superpower like Britain to support us, but on the ground it doesn't change much. Israel doesn't abide by any international resolution or law. It doesn't listen to any country in the world. Our roots are here. We can't leave," he said.

The other night, settlers attacked neighboring Palestinian communities, burning cars and painting graffiti. It's not just vandalism.

The settlers want the Palestinians out and in some places they have succeeded in doing so, forcing residents off their farms and stealing their livestock.

74-year-old Orthodox Father David Khoury, born in Taybeh, said that in his church the settlers who have threatened residents are often armed.

"Yes, they have weapons... they will use them if we resist. They want to drive us away, they want us to leave," he said.

The elderly father was determined: “We have been here since Jesus Christ, 2,000 years. Our roots are here. We cannot leave. We will not leave, even if we die here… Palestine is in our blood, how can we live without our blood?”

"If you really want two states, recognize both"

It was not far from Ramallah, the de facto capital of Palestine in the West Bank, but I couldn't visit it in person. Israeli checkpoints make the journey slow and difficult.

I contacted Husam Zomlot via Zoom, the head of the Palestinian delegation to the UK and their ambassador in London. He was in Palestine for the summer holidays and was delighted with the British plan.

"It is a sign that Britain and the international community are serious about the two-state solution. We are no longer talking about empty words that have taken us three decades. In fact, if you really want two states, recognize two states. We see recognition as the start of building and establishing the state of Palestine and realizing the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people," he said.

Zomlot was jubilant and said the British decision would make a real difference.

He reminded Britain of its history in the region, citing the Balfour Declaration, a 1917 letter that promised support for the Jewish national home but did not preserve the civil and religious rights of the non-Jewish, mainly Palestinian, population.

At the UN, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy acknowledged that Britain could be proud of the founding of Israel, but the breach of promise to the Palestinians had created a historical injustice that still persists.

In the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, Simcha Rothman, an ultranationalist lawmaker from the religious party, criticized Britain's history and considered Starmer's plan for recognition as a reward for Hamas terrorism. He rejected Starmer's offer to postpone recognition in exchange for a full ceasefire in Gaza and the resumption of the two-state solution.

"You are threatening Israel with punishment and you think that this will bring peace to the Middle East? It has no power to punish us and this will never bring peace. It is against justice, history, religion, culture... you are giving a huge reward to Yahya Sinwar [the Hamas leader who led the October 7 attacks and was killed by Israeli forces last year in Gaza]," he said.

In Taybeh, when I asked several prominent citizens about the British plan, a local businessman said:

"Thank you, Britain. But it's too late."


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