2024-11-01 Time: 02:29:47 (Jerusalem)

Statement by Dr. Saeb Erekat after meeting Rt. Hon John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons of the UK Parliament

As we have constantly stated, the two-state solution is a Palestinian adoption of an international formula. In fact, it represents a painful and historic Palestinian compromise of recognizing Israel over 78% of historic Palestine. Today, almost 6 million Palestinians live under Israeli control in all of historic Palestine, while almost 6 million Palestinians live in exile.

Contrary to Netanyahu's plan of one state and two systems, Apartheid, the only alternative to two sovereign and democratic states on the 1967 border is one single secular and democratic state with equal rights for everyone, Christians, Muslims, and Jews, on all of historic Palestine.

I urged Mr. Bercow to work towards justice for the Palestinian people, especially given the historic responsibility that the UK bears 100 years after the issuance of the Balfour Declaration. Calls by Prime Minister Theresa May to celebrate the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration are not only unacceptable but insulting to the Palestinian people. We called upon the United Kingdom to recognize the State of Palestine on the 1967 border with East Jerusalem as its capital, and to take concrete measures in order to save the two-state solution, including to ban all Israeli settlement products.