A group of Palestinians is set to serve a legal petition that will ask the UK to accept responsibility for what they describe as serial violations of international law, including war crimes committed during the British occupation of Palestine from 1917 to 1948, the consequences of which, they argue, continue to reverberate today.

A 400-plus page document, drafted by human rights KCs, details what it calls "incontrovertible evidence" of the UK's unlawful legacy, including the 1917 Balfour Declaration, its role as an occupying power during the mandate period, an authority it says had no legal basis, and the subsequent systematic abuse of the Palestinian people.

Among the petitioners is 91-year-old philanthropist Munib al-Masri, who was shot in the leg by British soldiers at the age of 13. All 14 petitioners have been affected by Britain's violations and the dispersal of Palestinians, with several having lived through those events.

According to the submission, the Palestinian people are confronting their most severe condition since 1948, a circumstance for which Britain holds a unique share of responsibility and consequently owes them a distinct obligation.

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Served on the UK government this Sunday, the submission marks the launch of the Britain Owes Palestine campaign, which is pressing for official UK acknowledgment of wrongdoing, a formal apology, and reparations for what it describes as a "century of oppression."

“The current crisis in Palestine was ‘made in Britain’ through a catalogue of neglect and abuse of the Palestinian people. Together we have suffered more than a century of oppression," al-Masri stated, adding, “Britain can only play its part in building a just peace in the region today if it acknowledges its defining role in the horrors of the past. An apology would be a just start to what Palestinians expect from the British government.”

Accompanying the petition, al-Masri's written statement recalls British troops rounding up large numbers of men, then escorting them through towns with their hands and feet bound by rope, and finally holding them in cages prior to execution.

A precedent exists for the UK government making the kind of concessions called for in the petition, as demonstrated on March 31 when it apologized for the Batang Kali massacre in colonial Malaya in December 1948, which was the latest of five such official apologies.

Britain's injustices against Palestine

Years in the making, the petition asserts that Britain unlawfully failed to recognize a Palestinian nation despite having pledged to do so in the McMahon-Hussein correspondence, a contested series of letters exchanged during the First World War.

According to the petition, Britain also bears responsibility for the destruction of the single unitary territory of Palestine and for failing to protect and promote the rights of the indigenous Palestinian Arab people during its withdrawal, though the petition is not concerned with contesting the post-1948 recognition of "Israel" in international law.

“This petition demonstrates, by reference to a comprehensive analysis of contemporary evidence, the extent of British responsibility for the terrible suffering in Palestine, which can be traced back to Britain’s violations of international law during its occupation and subsequent withdrawal," Ben Emmerson, former UN special rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism and one of two KCs working on the case, told The Guardian. 

“These historic injustices continue to shape the realities on the ground today. Britain owes a debt to the Palestinian people. Today’s petition is based upon the international obligations of the United Kingdom to make amends," he added.