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Balfour at 109: Britain must answer for the abuses in Palestine it now condemns
Britain has imposed sanctions on West Bank settlements and condemned the displacement of Palestinians, but has not adequately acknowledged its own role in the history that preceded it, the article argues. On the 109th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, it calls on the UK government to address that record and respond to a legal petition submitted by campaigners.
The 1917 declaration promised a Jewish national home while pledging to protect the rights of Palestine’s existing non-Jewish communities, who made up about 90 per cent of the population. The article says Britain later denied Palestinians representative government and used emergency laws during the 1936 revolt, when around 5,000 Palestinians were killed; it also cites collective punishments, demolitions and the 1948 Nakba. In September 2025, the Britain Owes Palestine campaign submitted a 400-page petition to ministers seeking accountability, and is still awaiting a response.
In short
- Britain condemns current dispossession but has not fully faced its colonial record.
- The Balfour Declaration’s protections for Palestinians were not upheld.
- Campaigners submitted a 400-page petition in 2025 and await a response.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
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The case for
Britain’s past decisions helped shape the conditions in which Palestinians lost political rights and many were displaced, so acknowledging that history is a matter of public honesty and respect for those affected. The petition gives the government an opportunity to examine the record and consider whether an official response or other measures are warranted, especially as it condemns abuses today.
The case against
The declaration and Britain’s later rule should be judged in their historical context, and present-day governments may question how far they can fairly be held responsible for decisions made generations ago. The UK can address current abuses through diplomacy and sanctions without accepting a campaign’s account of historical responsibility or committing to measures before ministers have assessed the petition and its legal and practical implications.