UK Faces Urgent Calls for Colonial-Era Reparations After Palestinian State Recognition
UK Faces Urgent Calls for Colonial-Era Reparations After Palestinian State Recognition
Palestinian advocates are intensifying demands for the United Kingdom to apologize and offer reparations for alleged colonial-era war crimes, particularly following Britain’s recent recognition of a Palestinian state. A 400-page legal petition was submitted to the Foreign Office earlier this month by a group representing 13 families who claim they suffered violence, exile, or repression during the British Mandate in historical Palestine (1917-1948).
Victor Kattan, spokesperson for the petitioners and an expert in public international law, welcomed the UK’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state during this week’s UN conference in New York. However, he emphasized that recognition alone does not address Britain’s historical conduct, arguing that the UK denied self-government and that Palestinian people “bore the brunt” of its rule. Kattan stressed that for Palestinians, these issues are not merely historical but “the living reality to this day.”
The legal submission details three decades of alleged abuses by UK forces, including murder, torture, expulsion, and collective punishment, which petitioners argue amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. While the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has not publicly commented on the petition, it is understood that Deputy Prime Minister and former Foreign Secretary David Lammy intends to ask officials to review the submission.
This renewed pressure builds on previous UK concessions regarding colonial-era abuses, such as this year’s apology for the 1948 Batang Kali massacre in Malaya and settlements related to the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya. The UK’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state, joining over 150 other nations, has been welcomed by Palestinians but rejected by Israel and the US.
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