Celebrities demand Britain apologise for ‘direct responsibility' in Palestine
More than thirty celebrities and business leaders have signed an open letter calling on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to formally apologise for Britain's unlawful actions in Palestine between 1917 and 1948.
The letter is released on Nakba Day, marking the 78th anniversary of the displacement of over 700,000 Palestinians in 1948. See the full letter below.
The debt Britain owes Palestine
Sir,
Britain's role in the crisis engulfing Palestine today is not a matter of distant history - it is a matter of direct responsibility. From the Balfour Declaration of 1917, issued without legal basis or the consent of Palestine's Arab majority, through thirty years of British rule, to the violent dispossession of 1948, there runs an unbroken thread of British culpability.
A 400-page petition, drafted by leading KCs and historians and submitted to the government, documents systematic breaches of international law during this period. From 1917 to 1948, British forces committed grave abuses against the Palestinian people: murder, torture, arbitrary detention, and the demolition of homes. Britain denied Arab self-determination while overseeing a transformation that saw the displacement of hundreds of thousands.
That the same abuses - arbitrary detention, home demolitions, forced displacement - are suffered by Palestinians today is not coincidence. It is a grim continuity that deepens, rather than diminishes, Britain's responsibility to act.
Accountability is not weakness, in public life or in statecraft. The Prime Minister, as a former human rights lawyer and Director of Public Prosecutions, knows that confronting past wrongs is the foundation of any credible legal and moral order. Keir Starmer has the chance to acknowledge them on behalf of our country.
Britain has the standing to play a unique role in peace negotiations and reconstruction. But that influence is diminished so long as this foundational injustice goes unaddressed.
A formal apology would not resolve the conflict. It could, however, mark an honest turning point and signal that Britain is prepared to reckon with the consequences of its actions, past and present.
Signed:
Munib Al Masri, Lead Petitioner, Britain Owes Palestine
Dale Vince, Founder, Ecotricity
Paloma Faith, Musician
Billy Howle, Actor
Alexei Sayle, Writer, Comedian
Lolly Adefope, Actor, Comedian
Juliet Stevenson CBE, Actor
Robert Macfarlane, Author
Alice Oswald, Poet
Ahdaf Soueif, Writer
Dr Safia Minney MBE, Director, Earth Ethos
Boff Whalley, Lead Guitarist, Chumbawamba
Ben Rawlence, Writer
bbyclose, Musician
Chris Welsford, Managing Director, Ayres Punchard Investment
Bríd Brennan, Actor
Hanna Naima McCloskey, Founder & CEO, Fearless Futures
Kamila Shamsie, Author
Janet Henfrey, Actor
Khalid Abdalla, Actor
Olivia Marcus, Actor
Eliot Salt, Actor
Geetie Singh-Watson MBE, Co-Founder, The Bull, Albatross
Guy Singh-Watson, Co-Founder, The Bull, Albatross
Rafaella Marcus, Playwright
Máiréad Tyers, Actor
Jude Mack, Actor, Writer
Harry Trevaldwyn, Actor, Writer
Mhairi Angus, Singer, Actor
Alice Hoskyns, Actor
Bilal Hasna, Actor
Rosa Robson, Actor
Sofia Oxenham, Actor
Kwaku Mills, Actor
Yasmine Al Massri, Actor