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Britain in Palestine 1917-1948

Britain in Palestine 1917-1948 investigates the contradictory promises and actions which defined British Mandatory rule in Palestine and laid the groundwork for the Nakba (the catastrophe) and the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. The roots of the contemporary social, political, economic, and environmental landscape of Palestine and Israel can be traced back to this period, making it essential viewing for understanding Britain’s legacy in the region and the situation on the ground today. MORE

Statement from the Britain Palestine Project

The attack at Bondi Beach was horrific. Our thoughts are with the victims, their loved ones, and all those affected. We stand together against violence, hatred, and the targeting of any community. Such acts not only cause immense human suffering—they do nothing to advance justice, peace, or freedom for anyone.

Violence against civilians is morally wrong and strategically harmful. It undermines the universal principles of dignity and equality that Palestinians and their supporters have long championed. It also fuels fear, division, and polarisation at a moment when people everywhere should be working to uphold international law and protect human rights.

We reaffirm our commitment to principled, non-violent advocacy, to standing against all forms of racism—including antisemitism and Islamophobia—and to building a future grounded in justice, safety, and respect for all communities.

 

Amnesty report on crimes against humanity by Palestinian groups

Amnesty International has issued a report, dated 11 Dec 2025, finding that the actions of Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups during and after the 7 Oct 2023 attacks into Israel, based on video evidence, survivor accounts and corroborated material, constituted serious violations of international law, including war crimes and crimes against humanity. Amnesty documents deliberate killings of civilians, widespread assaults on communities, indiscriminate rocket fire and the abduction and mistreatment of hostages. Noting Israel’s occupation, blockade and ongoing violations in Gaza, Amnesty stresses that abuses by one party can never justify abuses by another. MORE

A US colonial mandate

Former UN human rights official Craig Mokhiber says the 17 Nov 2025 UN Security Council Resolution on Gaza puts the US and its client state Israel in direct colonial charge of Gaza and deprives all Palestinians of any route or right to self-determination. MORE

Fear, grievance and denial

The Trump plan for Gaza leaves Palestinians and Israelis even more irrevocably entrenched in their positions: no Palestinian state, say Israelis; but more support for Hamas among Palestinians. Menachem Klein reports on a psychological and political stalemate. MORE

Archbishop speaks out on genocide

After his visit to Jerusalem and the West Bank, and personal experience of the settlers, the Archbishop of York says Israel’s occupation constitutes apartheid and ethnic cleansing, and in Gaza there is strong evidence to suggest genocide. MORE

BOOK REVIEW: Embedded with Israel – the UK in Gaza

Peter Oborne’s powerful new book sets out in starkest detail the story of official Britain’s backing for Israel in its campaign of ethnic cleansing in Gaza—and its denial and suppression of its own citizenry, which mostly opposes it. MORE

The architects of Israel’s impunity

The US, the UK and Germany provide the political and diplomatic protection for Israel’s continuing military assaults on the Palestinians, writes Mandy Turner. We the people of those nations must never relent in our struggle against our own governments and their elites in their support for Israel…especially amid careless talk of ceasefire and peace. MORE

German researchers list 100,000 Gaza dead

The Max Planck Institute in Germany confirms that Israel has killed more than 100,000 Gazans since its military campaign began after 7 Oct 2023. MORE

How the first High Commissioner rigged Palestine for the Zionists

Herbert Samuel, Britain’s first—and Zionist—High Commissioner in Palestine, was able to deploy the contradictions and vagaries of the Balfour Declaration to the eternal advantage of the Zionists, right from the start. MORE

Origins of the Israel-Palestine conflict

The Balfour Declaration was published on the 2nd November 1917. It stated the intent of the British government to create a Jewish homeland in Palestine. This week, William Dalrymple (historian and BPP patron) and Anita Anand (historian) are joined by Tom Segev (Israeli historian and writer) to discuss the declaration and the ensuing British mandate for Palestine. MORE

FILM REVIEW: Britain’s cruel crushing of the Arab Revolt

John Bond reviews Palestine 36, the moving and revealing feature film that shows how British forces used murderous methods to end the Palestinian Arab uprising of 1936-39 against British Mandate rule and its handing of land to the Zionists. Those methods are still in use today, by Israel, in all the occupied Palestinian territory. And Ian Wellens, a PSC member in Devon, adds his reactions. MORE

A ceasefire in name only

The killing of Palestinians in Gaza continues, reports our man there, Sami Abu Salem, trappped with his family in the central strip. The Israelis need war, he says—they prefer the military field to the political, for there they are the stronger. Hear his report. MORE

1915-1917: Britain’s historic contradictions in Palestine

The recognition of Palestine as a state refocuses attention on exactly what was and is Britain’s 20th Century legacy in the Holy Land. Nowhere is this put better and more succinctly than in this 2016 lecture on events involving Sir Henry McMahon, Mark Sykes and Arthur Balfour: it examines more than two years’ spread of British duplicity and contradictory policies whose consequences live on in the disaster of Palestine. Historian William M Mathew explores the imperative requirements of war and imperialism that drove Britain to make the modern Middle East. MORE

A Mandate for Memory: addressing Britain’s responsibility

BPP Executive Director Brian Brivati, in a personal essay, examines the ethics and practicalities of a new Palestinian campaign to persuade Britain to accept publicly and apologise for the harms and consequences of its 31-year rule over Palestine; and to reveal all relevant documents. MORE

Israel learned methods to suppress Palestinians from British Forces

From reshaping land ownership through land laws in 1920 to the brutal suppression of the Arab revolt using administrative detention, house demolition, assassination, exile and collective punishment, Britain ensured there would be no Palestinian state and significantly shaped the region’s history. MORE

Exposing the Israeli lie of the ‘Arab Nakba broadcasts’

Sixty-four years ago, the Irish journalist Erskine Childers first exposed the falsity of Israel’s claims that Arab and Palestinian leaders made radio broadcasts encouraging Palestinians to flee their homeland. Read his full article in The Spectator of 1961. MORE

BOOK REVIEW: West Bank camps attacks – echoes of the Mandate

During the Arab Revolt of 1936-39 the British carried out brutal military attacks on Palestinian civilians in rural areas, forerunners of what seems to be Israel’s latest policy of emptying the camps of the northern occupied West Bank of their refugee population. MORE

A targeted Nakba

In Gaza, Israel’s mission-oriented motives and genocidal motives overlapped and reinforced one another: and the very words of the political leaders and generals confirmed it all. An Israeli investigative reporter with +972 traces Israel’s death and destruction rampage against Gaza, and considers the Holocaust and the Nakba. MORE

A new Imperium for Gaza?

An ‘Imperial Peace Board’ is Trump’s and Netanyahu’s plan for the governance of Gaza, if the ceasefire and its terms are properly met to everyone’s satisfaction, a big IF. But, writes BPP’s Executive Director Brian Brivati in his personal view and analysis, self-determination for all the Palestinian people remains a chimera and there is not a word in the agreement about any judicial reckoning for genocide and war crimes. For Britain, the question is, will it support a scheme that strips sovereignty of meaning? MORE

 

 

Perfidious Albion & Palestine

Historian Avi Shlaim charts the century-long connivance, at great Palestinian cost, between British premiers from both main political parties and the Zionist movement/Israel governments. MORE

A New Order is being written—and must be joined

Palestine’s supporters must adapt and adapt to this new global structuring, writes Leila Sansour, Palestinian film-maker and writer. It is driven by power and money in Western and Arab state hands, but, she insists, the Palestinian movement worldwide must use its moral force and the struggle for justice to give it proper direction and real freedom and self-determination for its people. MORE

 

BPP welcomes William Dalrymple as Patron

We are honoured to welcome William Dalrymple – acclaimed historian, award-winning author, and co-host of the Empire podcast – as a Patron of the Britain Palestine Project. His work, from The Anarchy to his current Gaza podcast series and forthcoming history of Palestine, reflects our shared mission: to confront Britain’s historical responsibilities and promote justice through understanding. William’s insight into the legacy of empire and its modern consequences will strengthen BPP’s efforts to make history central to the conversation on Palestine today. MORE

Palestine deferred sine die

No rights, no self-determination for the Palestinians; Palestine divided; the Arab states conned but conniving; Tony Blair in charge via a ‘Board of Peace’; and Israel remains at large in Gaza. David Hearst, Editor of Middle East Eye, sums up yet another betrayal of the Palestinians. MORE

Palestine: UK must act against genocide and settlements following recognition

The full statement we run in Articles sets out the Britain Palestine Project’s considered view on the UK’s recognition of the State of Palestine. Recognition is a vital first step, but it must be given real meaning through action. Britain’s historic responsibilities, and its obligations as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, require more than symbolic gestures: they demand decisive measures to end genocide and famine in Gaza, to stop illegal settlement expansion, and to support Palestinian statehood on the basis of international law. Read full statement here

 

Recognition Is the Beginning merch: wear the message, keep the movement alive

The UK’s recognition of the State of Palestine is a historic step – but it’s only the beginning. Real justice, equality, and freedom still demand action. Our new ‘Recognition Is the Beginning’ merch collection celebrates this moment while calling for meaningful change. From T-shirts and hats to notebooks and stickers, every item helps amplify the message that recognition must lead to real progress. SHOP THE COLLECTION.

 

The continuing disappearance of Gaza’s Dr Hussain Abu Safiya

Seized from the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, on 27 Dec 2024, Dr.Abu Safiya, the hospital’s acting director, languishes in custody, after much brutal treatment, in an Israeli jail in the occupied Palestinian West Bank. It is a story of violence and cruelty (Israel’s) and heroic resistance and dedication (his and his medical team’s). MORE

 

Stop Trade with Settlements – Campaign Launch

The Britain Palestine Project is proud to support the launch of the international campaign to ban trade with Israel’s illegal settlements, backed by a new report Trading with Illegal Settlements. Endorsed by over 80 organisations worldwide, the report exposes how settlement trade fragments the West Bank, displaces Palestinians, and sustains Israel’s illegal occupation. It highlights the complicity of corporations such as JCB and Barclays, and sets out clear demands for governments and businesses to end settlement-linked trade, services and investment. MORE

Gaza: time for the Europeans to replace words with action

With the United States Administration doing nothing but effectively support Israel’s campaign of death, destruction and starvation in Gaza, the International Crisis Group urges the European Union states, the UK and the Arab nations to replace statements with punitive trade and cultural sanctions, arrests of war criminals and a moratorium for now on the Abraham Accords process. MORE

 

Scottish vote: arms, genocide and Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions

On 3 September 2025, the Scottish Parliament debated Gaza, Palestine, and the role Scotland can play in an international crisis. The outcome: Holyrood voted 65–24 (with 26 abstentions) to recognise the State of Palestine, stop funding of arms firms supplying Israel, call for a ceasefire in Gaza, and back BDS measures. More

Confronting de facto annexation of the West Bank: how can the E‑1 Settlement Project be stopped?

A new briefing by Danny Seidemann at Terrestrial Jerusalem,  warns that the statutory approval of the E-1 settlement marks a decisive step toward construction, threatening the viability of a contiguous Palestinian state and a two-state solution. It explains that although international condemnation has so far been rhetorical, there remains a narrow window—before tenders are finalised—when determined international engagement could still halt the project. The author proposes an approach of “anticipatory accountability,” urging states to warn individuals, firms, and institutions that participation in E-1 could bring serious consequences, thereby deterring implementation. MORE

️ Palestine Matters – A New Podcast Series

We’re proud to launch Palestine Matters, a Britain Palestine Project podcast recorded live at the Beyond Borders Festival. The series brings together leading diplomats, humanitarian voices, and legal experts to explore how international law, diplomacy, and public conscience can be mobilised for justice and peace in Palestine at a time of global crisis. MORE

E1: cutting the West Bank in half

The BPP explains the massive settlement project east of Jerusalem, slicing the occupied West Bank in half, west-to-east as far as the Jordan Valley, and isolating East Jerusalem from the Palestinian territory; and urges the British Government to take seriously punitive measures against Israel if it goes ahead with the plan. MORE

 

 

How the British obtained a ruling on Western Wall ownership 

Tawfiq al-Ghussein goes back to 1930 to track the British decision to have an international body rule decisively on the ownership of the Buraq, or Western, Wall, in Jerusalem, and the outcome. MORE

Israel: time to fight from within

Israeli lawyer and civil rights activist Michael Sfard argues that his own people must take up the battle against the horrific campaign against Gaza and its Palestinian population, a criminal campaign Israelis themselves are supporting and committing. It is all in “the family”, he says: a Mafia-type family. MORE

Britain Palestine Project calls on the UK Government to act on ICJ Genocide Prevention Provisional Measures

As a charity dedicated to equal rights, justice and security for Israelis and Palestinians, and education about Britain’s historical legacy in Palestine, the BPP calls on the UK Government to live up to its obligations under international law, including under the 1948 Genocide Convention. Below we outline a series of measures that the Government could and should take to fulfil its obligations under the Genocide Convention. The prevention of genocide and mass atrocities is a legal obligation for all nations. Only through decisive action can the UK help save lives in Gaza and hold the Government of Israel to account. MORE

Britain’s moral duty towards Israel

Peter Shambrook, author of the seminal history of Britain’s broken promises to the Arabs during the past century, says it is now time for our Government to try to redeem itself and and act decisively to rein in Israel. MORE

The Second Nakba in full flood

The Israeli activist David Shulman reports from the frontlines of the West Bank on Netanyahu’s full-scale war, using soldiers and armed settlers, against the people of the occupied Palestinian territory—crimes against humanity, he writes, on a large scale. MORE

Israel’s crimes against humanity in Palestine: UN report

A new United Nations report on Israel’s attacks across occupied Palestine condemns the state’s ‘genocidal intent’ —to prevent religious practice, to erase culture and history—in its continual destruction of Muslim and Christian sites, of schools and universities, and of the Palestinians in them. MORE

UK MPs urge sanctions on Israel

Citing acts of genocide or serious risks thereof, forcible population transfer and territorial annexation in the occupied Palestinian territory, 96 United Kingdom MPs urge the Prime Minister to impose sanctions on Israel. MORE

Gaza: ‘stop this weaponised aid’

It is genocide in Gaza, says former UN chief Martin Griffiths—and Israel’s weaponised aid system is a system of control that must be stopped. MORE

The strong UK tradiion of Jewish anti-Zionism

The British Jewish scholar Joseph Finlay, recounts the powerful and varied history of UK Jewish opposition to Zionism, for reasons including the religious, the practical, the patriotic, the ideological- political and, more recently, support for Palestinian rights and freedom. MORE