8 h. ago Starmer resists recognising Palestinian state as unions’ demand deepens Labour split

Exclusive: The Independent has seen a communique between the TUC and the French and Canadian union umbrella bodies demanding their governments recognise Palestine as a state immediately, with Labour on the brink of a civil war over the issue

Politics

13 h. ago Starmer resists recognising unilateral Palestinian state as unions demand deepens Labour split

Exclusive: The Independent has seen a communique between the TUC and the French and Canadian union umbrella bodies demanding their governments recognise Palestine as a state immediately with Labour on the brink of a civil war over the issue

Politics

14 h. ago Starmer resists recognising unilateral Palestinian state as Labour split deepens

Exclusive: The Independent has seen a communique between the TUC and the French and Canadian union umbrella bodies demanding their governments recognise Palestine as a state immediately with Labour on the brink of a civil war over the issue

Politics

68 h. ago I call on the UK to join the world majority – and recognise the state of Palestine | Husam Zomlot

The UN conference on the two-state solution offers an historic opportunity for Britain: to stand against the continued erasure of my peopleHusam Zomlot is the Palestinian ambassador to the United KingdomFuture generations will look back on this moment as a turning point, when an unrelenting campaign was waged to erase the Palestinian people, and ask how this was allowed to happen.How world leaders, faced with a choice between complicity and courage, enabled genocide. How they denied Palestinians our inalienable right to self-determination and return, and chose to support occupation over freedom, apartheid over equality. Today, after decades of appeasement and impunity, Israel has entrenched one of the longest military occupations in modern history, one that seeks not only to control Palestinian life but to extinguish it.Husam Zomlot is the Palestinian ambassador to the United KingdomDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response o...

Politics

68 h. ago Recognise Palestine now to avoid ‘deadly status quo’, says its UK ambassador

Husam Zomlot calls on Labour to fulfil manifesto commitment before UN conference on two-state solutionI urge the UK to seize this moment – and join the world majority in recognising a Palestinian stateMaking recognition of a Palestinian state subject to ever more conditions will only reinforce a “deadly status quo” and will be seen as siding with an apartheid regime, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK has said.Writing in the Guardian, Husam Zomlot made an impassioned plea to the Labour government to fulfil a manifesto commitment by recognising Palestine in the run-up to a high-level UN conference on the two-state solution in New York next week. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Los Angeles protests live: Newsom says California suing Trump administration for ‘illegal’ federalization of national guard

Gavin Newsom says lawsuit to challenge Trump’s federalizing of the California national guard without the state’s consent, a move with little precedent in US historyMore LA rallies planned to demand release of arrested union leaderAbout 300 Guard troops have been deployed to LA so far.President Donald Trump earlier said he would deploy 2,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles to respond to immigration protests, despite the objections of California governor Gavin Newsom. Continue reading...

Events

8 d. ago Trade unions join forces to demand end to ban on 'sympathy strikes'

Secondary industrial action - where a trade union asks its members to take action against their employer in solidarity with workers elsewhere who are in dispute - has been banned since the early 1990s

Events

2 w. ago Ban smartphones in schools, Starmer told – by the country that’s done it

Keir Starmer has resisted a national ban on mobile phones in schools, but the education minister in New Zealand who introduced the measure in her country has told The Independent that it is already proving successful

Politics

2 w. ago Israel’s ‘violations’ in Gaza make world more dangerous, Norway warns

Low respect for international law and human rights set worrying precedent, international development minister saysIsrael is setting a dangerous precedent for international human rights law violations in Gaza that is making the whole world more dangerous, Norway’s international development minister has warned.Norway has played a historical role in the region, including by facilitating the Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians that led to a celebrated breakthrough deal in 1993. Last year it recognised the Palestinian state, one of a minority of European countries to do so. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Labour figures urge recognition of Palestinian state at UN conference

Ministers told ‘symbols matter’ and move would give Palestine stronger footing in future peace talksMinisters are under pressure from inside and outside Labour to recognise Palestinian statehood at a UN conference next month, with party grandees arguing it would bolster prospects for peace and demonstrate moral leadership amid escalating tensions. Alf Dubs, the veteran Labour peer and Holocaust survivor, said the symbolic recognition of a Palestinian state would offer Palestinians “the self-respect they’d have if they had a proper state,” and provide them a stronger footing in any future peace negotiations.“Even if it doesn’t lead to anything immediately, it would still give Palestinians a better standing,” Lord Dubs said. “Symbols matter.” The former cabinet minister Peter Hain echoed the call, warning that “delaying recognition until negotiations are concluded simply allows Israel’s illegal occupation to become permanent”. Lord Hain argued that formal recognition should be “a cata...

Politics