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LONDON: Palestinians marked the announcement of the UK government’s formal recognition of the State of Palestine with a flag-hoisting ceremony attended by senior UK officials, members of Parliament, ambassadors, and members of the Palestinian community on Monday.

The official ceremony in the London borough of Hammersmith featured a speech by Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador, outside the Palestine Mission to the UK, soon to be upgraded into an embassy.

“In the same capital of the Balfour Declaration, after more than a century of ongoing denial, dispossession and erasure, the UK government has finally taken the long overdue step of recognizing the State of Palestine,” Zomlot began his speech.

Palestine, a former British colony for nearly 30 years, was never recognized when the mandate ended, despite the UK’s recognition of the fledgling State of Israel in 1950, an entity that was envisioned in the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which promised to establish a homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine.

This moment stands as a defiant act of truth, a refusal to let genocide be the final word; a refusal to accept that occupation is permanent

Husam Zomlot, Palestinian ambassador

The historic and long-awaited decision was announced on Sunday by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who described it as “a pledge to the Palestinian and Israeli people that there can be a better future.”

It marks a shift in policy in the UK and some European countries, which have long stated that recognizing Palestine will occur only at the conclusion of peace negotiations. Hamas attacks in October 2023, followed by an ongoing campaign of vengeance by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, signaled to Starmer that “the hope for a two-state solution is fading.”

Zomlot said that British recognition comes at a critical time of “unimaginable pain and suffering” for Palestinians, a population of 5.5 million in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Since August, Israeli forces have conducted a demolition campaign targeting high-rise buildings in Gaza City, continuing nearly two years of assaults on the coastal enclave, where over 65,000 people have been killed. Officials from the UN and the EU, along with the mayor of London, have recently described Israeli actions in Gaza as genocide. In the West Bank, the Israeli government announced its approval of the E1 settlement, which would divide the territory in half and severely undermine any hope for a Palestinian state.

“It comes as our people in Gaza are being starved, bombed, and buried under the rubble of their homes; as our people in the West Bank are being ethnically cleansed, brutalized by daily state-sponsored terrorism, land theft and suffocating oppression,” Zomlot said.

Palestinians hope that the UK’s recognition will be more than merely “symbolic” and will contribute to a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has embroiled the Middle East since 1948.

The UK, a permanent member of the Security Council and a G7 country, joined Canada, Australia, and Portugal on Sunday in recognizing Palestinian statehood, while France is expected to follow suit this week at the UN General Assembly.

“This moment stands as a defiant act of truth, a refusal to let genocide be the final word; a refusal to accept that occupation is permanent; a refusal to be erased and a refusal to be dehumanized,” Zomlot said.

“(It is) righting historic wrongs and committing together to a future based on freedom, dignity and fundamental human rights.”

A defining moment in securing self-determination for Palestine and peace through a two-state solution

John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister

The impassioned speech quoted the famous lines, “On This Land, There Are Reasons to Live,” a poem by the national poet Mahmoud Darwish.

“Please join me as we raise the flag of Palestine with its colors representing our nation: black for our mourning, white for our hope, green for our land and red for the sacrifices of our people,” Zomlot concluded.

John Swinney, the first minister of Scotland, attended the event along with former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Swinney wrote on X that it was “a defining moment in securing self-determination for Palestine and peace through a two-state solution.”

Corbyn, an independent MP, congratulated those “who have tirelessly campaigned for the recognition of Palestine,” which he described as an “inalienable right” of the Palestinian people, in a post on the X platform.

He called on the UK government to “recognize the genocide in Gaza, end its complicity in crimes against humanity, and stop arming Israel.”

�������� and France are co-hosting a one-day event at the UN in New York this week to advance the two-state solution, as more countries are expected to recognize the State of Palestine.

The long road to Palestinian statehood

An Arab News Deep Dive

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SEOUL: It was in 2006 when Kim Jin-woo saw an opportunity where few others in South Korea were looking: the global halal industry. Nearly two decades later, he stands at the forefront of the country’s growing K-halal scene, introducing new trends in lifestyle, fashion, and food.

The idea to enter a niche market in a country where the Muslim population is less than 0.2 percent came to Kim while he was living in Malaysia and understood the industry’s scale.

“Halal is not just about food. It is a lifestyle that includes fashion, beauty, culture and how we live every day. The magnitude of this economy is about $3 trillion and affects about 1.9 billion people’s lives,” he told Arab News.

“I saw Malaysia doing that and thought Korea could definitely engage in the halal economy too.”

It took years of trials and various initiatives — from modest fashion shows to advising Korean firms on halal certification and exports — before Kim’s efforts bore fruit in bridging Muslim consumers and Korean businesses closer together.

Returning to Korea in 2015, Kim faced skepticism. “Eight out of 10 people asked me why I was working on halal,” he recalled. “I (even) got phone calls from the police.” But he believed Korea, with its booming food, beauty, and cultural exports, could not afford to ignore the Muslim market.

He started linking Korean employers with a growing Muslim migrant community. In 2015, he partnered with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to host a halal expo, and later with the Seoul Business Agency to provide halal industry training for thousands of workers.

“The reason why the halal economy is not working here, and what makes my work difficult, is that 96 percent of Koreans do not even know the meaning of halal. So, there is a lot of effort put into raising awareness,” Kim said.

“Halal is about inclusion. Halal is a lifestyle. So, Koreans should be naturally exposed to it, and that is what I am trying to do.”

The CEO of Halal Korea and chair of the Overseas Korean Entrepreneurs’ Cooperative, he spearheaded last month the K-Halal Food Festa in Seoul’s Coex Magok Exhibition Hall.

Over 100 booths from across Korea and abroad drew not only industry buyers, but also students curious about halal cuisine, and families eager to try something new.

They left the venue with bags full of halal-certified ramen, sauces, and iconic K-beauty items.

The halal footprint is steadily increasing in South Korea. In the food sector alone, halal products accounted for 11.1 percent of the country’s total agri-food exports in 2023 — up 1.7 percentage points from 9.4 percent in 2022, according to data released by the Korea Food Research Institute.

In January this year, Seoul expanded its halal certification institutions from four to six, in a bid to support companies seeking entry into Muslim-majority markets.

“I think people now have opened their eyes a bit to the fact that halal is not only about food but that it is about the economy. So, that is a positive change,” Kim said, forecasting that in the years to come, South Korea’s halal exports will grow 10 percent year-on-year.

However, the expansion of the halal industry has also seen its fair share of backlash. In the late 2010s, talks were underway to build a halal food factory cluster in Iksan, a city 170 km south of Seoul, to supply both exports and domestic demand. Yet the plan has faced protests and still has not materialized.

Kim acknowledges the challenges but sees opportunity in sending Koreans to Muslim countries to learn and create joint ventures.

He foresees a Korea-�������� halal cluster or a Korea-UAE halal cluster, “where Korean corporations foray there to produce the goods, and their local partners take care of the marketing and halal certifications.”

Another strategy would be to follow in the footsteps of Japan, which attracts about 6 to 7 million Muslim tourists each year.

In Korea, the number is roughly half that.

“If we create the right environment — halal food, halal cosmetics, halal fashion — we can make Korea not just a K-pop destination for teenagers, but also a welcoming place for Muslim families with real purchasing power,” Kim said.

“When more Muslims come to Korea, there will be an increase in demand for halal beauty products, fashion products ... So, naturally, the halal market will thrive.”