Petition Regarding Britain’s Responsibility for the Palestine-Israel Conflict:
A SUMMARY
From 1917 to 1948, Britain occupied Palestine, claiming its self-granted Mandate authorised it to temporarily protect the population and facilitate its transition to self-government. By the time Britain withdrew, Palestine had become a deeply divided society. A succession of British policies, beginning with the Balfour Declaration promising the Jewish people a national home in a country that was overwhelmingly Palestinian Arab, fostered violent conflict and set the process of partition in train.
These events are not simply matters of history. Their consequences resonate today. Yet Britian has never acknowledged its actions and failures were wrong – morally or legally. It behaves as if it owes Palestine nothing.
A group of Palestinians whose lives have been shaped by these events have come together in September 2025 to demand that acknowledgement, an apology for Britain’s wrongdoing and the start of a process of accountability and reparation. The means they have chosen is to submit a legal petition to the British Government (‘the Petition’). Their grievances are not new, but the Petition is. Over 400 pages, it outlines the incontrovertible evidence of Britain’s actions and failures, the legal wrongs alleged, the principles of international law applicable at the time that were violated then which remain unremedied now and the process by which reparation should be made. It includes details of the Petitioners themselves and sets out their seven requests.
THE ESSENTIAL COMPLAINT
The Petitioners’ case is stark. They assert that the Palestine-Israel conflict was, to a decisive extent, ‘made in Britain’.
By occupying Palestine in 1917, reneging on undertakings made to the Arab peoples, and instituting the Mandate in 1922, Britain transformed the legal, political and demographic character of the territory without authority to do so. Thereafter, through repression of resistance and through abandonment of the Palestinian Arab population in 1948, Britain bears distinct and ongoing responsibility for the catastrophe that ensued.
The Petition categorises Britain’s internationally wrongful acts into three broad phases: Occupation, Repression, then Abandonment and Partition.
OCCUPATION
The period 1917–1948 saw Britain assume and prolong its control over Palestine without title. In doing so, it committed at least four wrongful acts, each breaching of international law standards of the time:
First, it unashamedly reneged on the Husayn-McMahon correspondence by failing to honour commitments to Arab independence, including in Palestine, instead privileging the incompatible promises of the Balfour Declaration.
Secondly, as an occupying power between 1917 and 1924, Britain unlawfully altered the legal and political status quo, facilitating Jewish immigration and settlement in defiance of the Hague Regulations’ requirement to preserve the institutions of occupied territory.
Thirdly, the Mandate for Palestine was unlawful from first principles: beyond the power of the Covenant of the League of Nations, inconsistent with the Treaty of Lausanne, and imposed without consulting the wishes of the resident population.
Fourthly, Britain continued in occupation until 1948, denying the Palestinian Arabs meaningful self-government, distorting the economic and demographic structure of the land, fostering and entrenching ethno-national divisions, and creating the conditions for violent conflict.
REPRESSION
The Arab Rebellion of 1936–1939, born of despair at the denial of democratic redress, was met with emergency laws and systematic brutality. Britain’s response was to enact repressive measures including arbitrary detention, collective punishment, coercive interrogation, and extra-judicial killings. These policies amounted to ‘rule by law’—using law as an instrument of oppression—rather than Rule of Law. The action Britain then took amounted to war crimes and crimes against humanity, as defined by the established laws and customs of war and the laws of humanity that had crystallised in customary international law by the 1930s. Britain’s colonial methods of repression became a model later exported to other territories and, indirectly, to Israeli practices after 1948.
ABANDONMENT AND PARITION
The logical culmination of Britain’s occupation and repression was the breaking up of Palestine as a unitary political entity in 1948. Having encouraged partition as a solution to irreconcilable divisions it had itself nurtured, Britain withdrew precipitously, obstructing the UN Palestine Commission and failing to discharge its obligations under Article 73 of the UN Charter and the law of occupation. It foresaw, but did nothing to prevent, atrocities and expulsions of Palestinians by armed Zionist groups. The Nakba—the catastrophic expulsion of some 750,000 Palestinians—was foreseeable, avoidable, and directly linked to Britain’s abdication of responsibility.
THE LAW OF STATE RESPONSIBILITY
International law stubbornly demands accountability and reparation for past wrongs, despite the passage of time. The Petition relies on the International Law Commission’s Articles on State Responsibility (2001), now regarded as codifying customary international law on reparation. These provide that every internationally wrongful act entails responsibility (Art. 1), that such acts are characterised by international, not domestic, law (Art. 3), and that the consequence is a duty to make full reparation (Art. 31). Reparations may include restitution, compensation and satisfaction (Art. 34). Satisfaction can take the form of acknowledgment, expression of regret, formal apology, or other appropriate measures (Art. 37).
Britain therefore remains under an obligation to repair the harm caused by its wrongful acts in Palestine between 1917 and 1948.
THE PETITIONERS’ SEVEN REQUESTS
The Petitioners have formulated seven specific requests to His Majesty’s Government. These are designed not only to recognise historical responsibility but to begin a process of reconciliation and reparation and to secure the beginnings of justice:
Consider the petition, together with the evidence on which it is based, in accordance with Government commitments to re-evaluate evidence of moral and unlawful wrongdoing in Britain’s colonial past.
Conduct a search for any remaining documents, evidence and information not yet released into the UK National Archives that support the claims of the petition, make them publicly available, and take them into account.
Reach a view on the petition that is consistent with frankness, transparency and candour, in keeping with public commitments to honour the rule of law, including international law.
Respond to the petition fully and publicly.
Acknowledge the wrongful acts committed by the UK during the period and promote national understanding of the adverse consequences of that history.
Provide an official public apology in the form of a statement to be read in the House of Commons by the Prime Minister.
Investigate in good faith what forms of accountability, reparation, satisfaction and investment in the Palestinian people and State of Palestine are appropriate in light of the wrongful acts and Britain’s acknowledged responsibility.
THE PETITIONERS
The lead Petitioner, Mr Munib Rashid Al-Masri, born in Nablus in 1934, is a prominent Palestinian industrialist and philanthropist. His father and grandfather served as Mukhtars under Ottoman and British rule. Over his long life he has sought to foster Palestinian unity, develop Palestinian institutions, and promote dialogue between Arabs and Jews. He has largely operated outside party politics as an independent civil society actor. Other Petitioners are a cross section of affected people from across Palestinian society – some still living there, others displaced. Some lived through and survived Britain’s occupation; others are the descendants of those who experienced its brutal effects. Their experiences are summarized in the Petition.
CONCLUSION
The Petition is not concerned with contesting the post-1948 recognition of Israel in international law. Rather, its focus is on Britain’s historical role, and the need for acknowledgment and reparation. It is premised on the principle that justice requires confronting the past with courage and honesty. The Petitioners insist that the UK bears a unique responsibility for the origins of today’s conflict, and that recognition of this responsibility is an indispensable step towards reconciliation. As Palestinians face their greatest crisis since 1948, acting now is especially important. The seven requests provide the starting point for Britain to discharge its continuing obligations under international law and to begin repairing the damage wrought by its colonial past.