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.
Our recommendations are rooted in Britain’s legal duties under the ICJ Advisory Opinion of July 2024, UN Security Council Resolution 2334, and the Genocide Convention. They provide a practical framework for turning recognition into a pathway towards peace, justice, and equal rights for Palestinians and Israelis alike.
On behalf of the BPP, I commend this statement to policymakers, parliamentarians, and the public as a roadmap for Britain to fulfil its responsibilities with clarity and purpose.
Best wishes,
Andrew Whitley
Chair, Britain Palestine
Read full statement here
Testament of despair of a Gazan in flight
Sami abu Salem, the Gazan journalist who has been corresponding with the BPP via film-maker and newsman Mike Joseph since just before 7 Oct 2023, reports on his and his family’s aimless flights from one peril to another, the threat of death at any minute and the drain of meaning and hope from their lives. The Israeli soldiers’ contradictory orders send Gazans scurrying in fatal circles like schoolboys prodding insects inside a circle of fire. He appeals to the British Government, ‘to the Land of Balfour’: never mind recognition: just stop the killing. MORE
The reality: Palestinians live on this land
Leila Sansour, a Palestinian activist and film-maker from Bethlehem, says recognition of a Palestine state formalises the fact that her people ‘live on this land’, and gives the lie to Israel’s phoney rhetoric of security. MORE
UK bishops welcome recognition
Four Anglican bishops, led by BPP patron the Bishop of Southwark, Christopher Chessun, say Britain’s recognition of Palestinecan strengthen moderates and sends the signal that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory is untenable. MORE
The United States has serially stopped the United Nations from taking serious punitive or deterrent action against Israel. But, argues UN analyst Craig Mokhiber, the General Assembly has a number of ways it could decisively defy the veto: for example by imposing serious military sanctions or even using military force. 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
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
Britain owes Palestine – a lot
Our Chair, Andrew Whitley’s response to fourteen Palestinians who have filed a legal petition demanding the British Government account for systematic violations of international law during its occupation of Palestine (1917–48). If unanswered, the case will move to Judicial Review. The Britain Palestine Project urges the Government to meet its historic responsibilities – acknowledging past wrongs and committing to a just future. MORE
Palestinian Flag Flies over the Scottish Parliament yesterday
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
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Latest webinar: when does political speech on Palestine and Israel cross into antisemitism?
On Thursday 25 September, we heard from Brian Klug (University of Oxford, co-author of the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism) and John McHugo (author and Middle East historian), who bring decades of expertise on racism, religion, and the region’s contested histories. Watch or listen to recordings here. MORE
Online Film Screening & Director Q&A: From the Nakba to Camp David
Join us on Tuesday 7th October at 6:30pm for a special online screening of From the Nakba to Camp David (35 mins), followed by a live Q&A with director Gillian Moseley. Free for Friends of Britain Palestine Project, £5 for others. 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
In memory of Owda Hathaleen: a voice silenced, a legacy that won’t be
This special tribute honours Owda Hathaleen, a beloved teacher, journalist, and activist from Masafer Yatta, who was killed by an Israeli settler on 28 July 2025. A friend of the Britain Palestine Project, Owda dedicated his life to resisting displacement and defending his community. We reflect on his life, his legacy, and the urgent struggle for justice in the South Hebron Hills. MORE
Fundraiser: Honouring Awdah’s life and continuing his work
Umm al-Kheir: the report from the Office of the Security Coordinator
Email your MP now: UK to Recognise Palestine – But Gaza Famine Must End Now
On 22 September, the UK will join France, Australia, Canada, Portugal and others in recognising the State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly – a long-overdue step towards justice and equality. But recognition alone won’t end the man-made famine in Gaza. With Parliament back on 1 September, now is the time to tell your MP: yes to recognition, no to famine. Email your MP in less than 2 mins
️ 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
The Triangle of Death
Between 1936 and 1939, in Mandate Palestine, the British army and the Palestine Police carried out the most savage repression of Palestinian Arab rebels, who were convinced, correctly as it turned out, that their colonialist rulers were going to hand their land to the Zionists. This new novel, by Richard Fassam-Wright tells the story in graphic style through the eyes of a young Palestine policeman. 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
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
Former EU Ambassadors: act now to end Israel’s atrocities in Gaza
In a searing open letter, 34 former EU ambassadors demand urgent action against Israel’s war on Gaza and the West Bank, accusing the EU of complicity through inaction. They call for an arms embargo, sanctions, recognition of Palestinian statehood, and a flood of humanitarian aid — warning that Europe’s credibility is on the line. MORE
The Saudis’ ‘long betrayal of Palestine’
In this well-informed but anonymous article from Arab Digest, the author sets out in detail what he regards as the decades-long betrayal by the creator and first King of Saudi Arabia, Ibn Saud, of the Palestinians, in cahoots with the West, the Zionist movement and Israel from the very beginning. 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
An MP’s struggle for justice for Palestine
In this filmed interview with Mike Joseph, at the showing of his film Gaza: a story of love and war in Edinburgh on 30 June, 2025, Tracy Gilbert, Labour MP for Leith, describes her and her fellow backbenchers’ continuing but so far vain attempts to get Britain’s Labour Government to fight for justice in Israel/Palestine. 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
Israel’s ‘grave sin’ in Gaza
The Church of England’s House of Bishops register their horror and outrage at Israel’s use of siege and starvation as weapons of war against the Palestinians of Gaza, including at the attacks on the Anglican al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City (above). MORE
Email your MP: Recognise Palestine now
Balfour’s Britain v the British people
Middle East analyst Mandy Turner argues that British elites have always supported, and still do support, Zionism against Palestinian rights and independence—but public opinion is moving quickly and certainly in the opposite direction. MORE
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
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
Ensuring Jewish dominance by numbers in all of Palestine
Menachem Klein explores how Israel’s genocidal society is now working for domination of Palestine by force of arms and reduction of the Palestinian population vis a vis the Jewish. 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
Montagu’s warnings about Zionism
It was a ‘mischievous political creed,’ the Secretary of State for India wrote to the 1917 War Cabinet, which would endanger the presence of the Jews in Britain—‘Jewish Britons’ rather than ‘British Jews’—and drive the Palestinians out of their own country. MORE
The two ‘Holocausts’
Omer Bartov, the American-Israeli historian and specialist in Holocaust studies, reports on Israelis’ justification of the killing fields of Gaza, their present apparent impunity, but how their licence may soon be expiring. MORE