Palestinians to ask UK to own up to ‘law violations’ between 1917 and 1948 Petition, drafted by human rights lawyers, says war crimes were committed during British occupation of Palestine

Munib al-Masri in the garden of his home outside the West Bank city of Nablus. Photograph: Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP/Getty

A group of Palestinians will serve a legal petition asking the UK to take responsibility for what they call “serial international law violations”, including war crimes committed during the British occupation of Palestine from 1917 to 1948, the consequences of which it says still reverberate today.

The 400-plus page document, drafted by human rights KCs, details “incontrovertible evidence” of the UK’s unlawful legacy.

This includes the 1917 Balfour declaration, acting as an occupying power during the mandate period – an authority to rule the territory that it says had no legal basis – and the subsequent “systematic abuse” of the Palestinian people.

The submission says the Palestinian people face their gravest crisis since 1948, which Britain bears its own distinct responsibility for and so owes them a special debt.

Among the petitioners is the 91-year-old philanthropist Munib al-Masri, who was shot in the leg by British soldiers when he was 13.

The submission, served on the UK government on Sunday, marks the launch of a campaign, Britain Owes Palestine, which is pressing for official UK acknowledgment of wrongdoing, apology and reparations for what it calls a “century of oppression”.

A legal petition is a formal request to the government to act based on evidence and legal analysis, often used by victims of colonial wrongdoing.... READ MORE  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/07/palestinians-petition-uk-legal-violations-last-century

 AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies]