Dear friends,
September has been an eventful month for all sorts of
reasons, and it is still not over. While the UK's
announcement that it will recognise a Palestinian state is a
welcome and long overdue development, Britain owes Palestine
far more than recognition. It owes the people of Palestine
an apology for its historic crimes in Palestine when it was
the colonial power as well as reparations.
In this connection, I was honoured to have been chosen to
deliver a 433-page petition, alongside Palestinian
industrialist Munib al-Masri, 91 years old, and Oxford
University Professor Avi Shlaim, straight to 10 Downing
Street requesting reparations from the UK for violations of
international law in mandatory Palestine, where the UK was
the colonial power from 1917-1948. The petition was sent to
HMG on behalf of 14 elderly Palestinians (including Mr
al-Masri).
You can read an account of that moving and solemn visit in
The Irish Times at this link (no paywall): https://www.irishtimes.com/world/uk/2025/09/15/palestinian-generations-unite-to-tell-downing-street-current-conflict-was-made-in-britain/
I especially liked this bit from the story: "Kattan rapped
twice on the heavy knocker on the prime minister’s front
door. The loud thud reverberated up the otherwise silent
street, as the petitioners announced their arrival to ask
for what they see as justice."
I would not be surprised if you missed the news as a lot has
been going on -- on the day before we delivered the
petition, Israel bombed Palestinian negotiators in Doha, and
on the day we visited Downing Street, Sir Keir Starmer met
with Isaac Herzog, Israel's President, for what turned out
to be a stormy meeting.
Nonetheless, The Guardian, The Independent, The Daily
Mirror, and the Daily Express covered the story of our
petition:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/07/palestinians-petition-uk-legal-violations-last-century
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/britain-palestine-palestinian-uk-government-jewish-b2824024.html
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/palestinians-mount-legal-bid-against-35864900
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/2105576/palestinians-to-demand-apology-uk-government
A notable omission was the BBC, although it did cover some
of the issues raised in the petition in this story from
2022: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-63145992
The story was well covered in the Arabic press including
Arab News, Middle East Eye etc.
The petition
The petition is an important document. It has been several
years in the making and work on it predates the war in
Gaza. The authors of the petition include barristers Ben
Emmerson KC, Danny Friedman KC, Professor John Quigley,
Professor Avi Shlaim, and myself.
You can read the petition here: https://www.britainowespalestine.org/the-legal-petition
You can find out more on the campaign website here: https://www.britainowespalestine.org/
If anything, we hope the petition will
provoke a national conversation about the UK's colonial
past in Palestine -- something that is notably missing
from many British school curriculums. I promise you there
is something new for everyone to learn from reading the
petition, even for those who are experts on the topic.
Please do help spread the word about the petition amongst
your networks, and as always, I welcome feedback!
Warmly,