# British Parliament Recognizes Palestinian State in Symbolic Vote **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 13, 2014, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parliament-recognizes-palestinian-state-in-symbolic-vote/701244 "2014-10-13T21:57:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parliament-recognizes-palestinian-state-in-symbolic-vote/701244/1 "2014-10-13T21:57:17Z")
> [@](#): > > Against a backdrop of growing impatience across Europe with Israeli policy, Britain’s Parliament overwhelmingly passed a nonbinding resolution Monday night to give diplomatic recognition to a Palestinian state. … > > Though the outcome of a parliamentary vote, 274 to 12, was not binding on the British government, the debate was the latest evidence of how support for Israeli policies, even among staunch allies of Israel, is giving way to more calibrated positions and in some cases frustrated expressions of opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stance toward the Palestinians. [http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/14/world/europe/british-parliament-palestinian-state.html?\_r=0](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/14/world/europe/british-parliament-palestinian-state.html?_r=0) In a few years I expect only the United States will automatically rubber-stamp anything Israel does–while the rest of the world will be critical of Israeli actions. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parliament-recognizes-palestinian-state-in-symbolic-vote/701244/2 "2014-10-13T22:01:26Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > [http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/14/world/europe/british-parliament-palestinian-state.html?\_r=0](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/14/world/europe/british-parliament-palestinian-state.html?_r=0) > > In a few years I expect only the United States will automatically rubber-stamp anything Israel does–while the rest of the world will be critical of Israeli actions. It isn’t Israeli actions that are standing in the way of Palestinian statehood. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parliament-recognizes-palestinian-state-in-symbolic-vote/701244/3 "2014-10-14T00:54:18Z")
Hell, it isn’t even just Israeli and Palestinian actions that stand in the way of Palestinian statehood. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parliament-recognizes-palestinian-state-in-symbolic-vote/701244/4 "2014-10-14T05:56:45Z")
How is a vote of Parliament not binding law? ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parliament-recognizes-palestinian-state-in-symbolic-vote/701244/5 "2014-10-14T06:45:50Z")
Considering there are 650 seats in Parliament, it sounds more like “bored backbenchers saw an opportunity to make a token statement” than any real shift in the political landscape. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parliament-recognizes-palestinian-state-in-symbolic-vote/701244/6 "2014-10-14T14:13:53Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > How is a vote of Parliament not binding law? Look up “nonbinding resolution”. They’re quite common in Parliaments and Congresses all over the world. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parliament-recognizes-palestinian-state-in-symbolic-vote/701244/7 "2014-10-14T16:19:01Z")
If there are 650 seats in the British parliment, then that means only 44% of the members even voted on the resolution, and only 42% voted in favo(u)r of it. Not a very compelling vote, really.