Sheffield City Council raising the Palestinian flag at Town Hall after the council recognized the State of Palestine. 

SHEFFIELD, Wednesday, July 17, 2019 (WAFA) – The British Sheffield City Council today recognized the State of Palestine as a sovereign country and raised the Palestinian flag outside its Town Hall.

This came after Sheffield Labor Friends of Palestine gathered nearly 20,000 signatures on a petition calling on the city council to recognize Palestine.

Labor Friends of Palestine, who supported this move, said they will pass on this decision to the British Parliament to discuss it in September.

Palestine‘s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Hussam Zomlot, welcomed the move and praised the Sheffield Labor Friends of Palestine for their efforts to get their city to recognize Palestine and raise its flag.

He said this support is not only symbolic, but rather is a step toward British recognition of Palestine, which he said is long overdue and a duty for Britain which participated in the tragedy of the Palestinian people with the infamous Balfour Declaration of 1917 that promised a homeland for the Jews in Palestine totally disregarding its indigenous Palestinian population.

Julie Pearn, of the Sheffield Labor Friends of Palestine, played a big role in winning this recognition. “The time for recognition is long overdue. The state of Palestine is already recognized by 138 other nations," she said two weeks ago at a rally outside Sheffield Town Hall.

“We believe public recognition of the Palestine state by the council would be a powerful and influential statement of solidarity which we hope other councils will envy."

Councilor Olivia Blake, deputy leader, also said then that “Sheffield is just one city but we can make this symbolic gesture and hope to put pressure on government to do likewise.”

M.K.