Around 30 celebrities and businesspeople have written to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer demanding he apologise for the UK’s “crimes” in the British Mandate for Palestine.
Singer Paloma Faith and actor Juliet Stevenson are among those who want the prime minister to say sorry for Britain’s “unlawful actions” while it administered the territory between 1920 and 1948, as reported by Metro.
The campaigners argue the UK must acknowledge what they describe as “grave abuses committed against the Palestinian people” under British occupation, including alleged unlawful killings, torture, arbitrary detention and the demolition of homes.
Among the signatories is green energy entrepreneur and Labour donor Dale Vince, who said Britain must “confront past wrongs” and recognise its historic role in the conflict.
In the letter, the group writes: “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.”
The signatories add that Palestinians continue to suffer “many of the same abuses today”, arguing that this “grim continuity” increases Britain’s responsibility to act.
Addressing the prime minister directly, the campaigners point to Starmer’s background as a human rights lawyer, writing: “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 pledged support for “a national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine through the Balfour Declaration in 1917. In 1920, the League of Nations granted Britain the Mandate for Palestine, placing it in charge of administering the territory while facilitating Jewish immigration and the development of self-governing institutions.
The period was marked by mounting tensions and repeated outbreaks of violence between Jewish and Arab communities, as well as resistance to British rule.
Britain withdrew from Palestine in 1948, handing responsibility to the United Nations shortly before the creation of the State of Israel.
Vince, one of the campaign’s lead signatories, welcomed the government’s recognition of the State of Palestine last summer but said ministers should go further.
He told Metro: “Britain tried to walk away and wash our hands of it. We acted illegally at the very start of this in the formation of Israel and Palestine. We committed war crimes as well. We were the original sin.
“The government should recognise the historic wrong.”
The letter is being published to coincide with Nakba Day on Friday, which commemorates the displacement of Arab communities at the establishment of Israel and as a result of the subsequent war sparked by the invasion of the new Jewish state by several neighbouring Arab states.
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