Corbyn: If elected, Labour will immediately recognize Palestinian state

Jeremy Corbyn says his party will immediately recognize a Palestinian state if his opposition party wins the next elections.

In a speech at the annual Labour conference, Corbyn protests “the ongoing denial of justice and rights to the Palestinian people” and says Labour is “united in condemning the shooting of hundreds of unarmed demonstrators in Gaza by Israeli forces and the passing of Israel’s discriminatory Nation-State Law.”

“The continuing occupation, the expansion of illegal settlements and the imprisonment of Palestinian children are an outrage,” he says, adding that Labour backs a two-state solution to the conflict.

“But a quarter of a century on from the Oslo Accords we are no closer to justice or peace and the Palestinian tragedy continues, while the outside world stands by,” Corbyn says.

“As my great Israeli friend Uri Avnery who died this year put it: ‘What is the alternative to peace? A catastrophe for both peoples.’ And in order to help make that two-state settlement a reality, we will recognize a Palestinian state as soon as we take office,” he says.