JVL Introduction
This is the second post of presentations made to the Britain Palestine Project Conference. Here Professor Avi Shlaim focuses particularly on Britain’s role in creating the catastrophe for Palestinians. He is involved in the “Britain Owes Palestine” project and he “contends that acknowledgement of historical responsibility must be accompanied by practical political action and a commitment to accountability.”
Another important contribution to our understanding of history together with ideas for action that the government needs to take.
You can also listen to Professor Avi Shlaim’s presentation as a Podcast on Spotify
This article was originally published by
Britain Palestine Project on Tue 2 Jun 2026.
Read the original here.
by Avi Shlaim, Britain Palestine Project
Renowned historian Professor Avi Shlaim examines Britain’s historic role in Palestine, the legacy of the Balfour Declaration, and the continuing impact of British policy on Palestinian self-determination.
Tracing the roots of the conflict through the late Ottoman period, the British Mandate and the creation of Israel, Shlaim argues that Britain played a central role in shaping the political conditions that led to the dispossession of Palestinians and continues to bear responsibility for the consequences today.
The talk explores: Britain’s role in supporting the Zionist movement during the Mandate period. The significance and legacy of the 1917 Balfour Declaration. The suppression of Palestinian political representation and resistance under British rule. The Palestinian Revolt of 1936–39 and its long-term consequences. The Nakba of 1948 as part of a broader historical process rather than a single event.
The work of the Britain Owes Palestine campaign and its efforts to seek acknowledgement, accountability and reparations from the British government. Britain’s contemporary political, military and diplomatic relationship with Israel. The destruction of civilian, educational and cultural infrastructure in Gaza. Ongoing debates around international law, accountability and the recognition of Palestinian statehood.
Professor Shlaim reflects on more than a century of British involvement in Palestine and argues that meaningful recognition of Palestinian rights requires more than symbolic gestures. He contends that acknowledgement of historical responsibility must be accompanied by practical political action and a commitment to accountability.
Recorded at the Britain Palestine Project annual conference, Recognition is the Beginning, held at the Greenwood Theatre, London, on 2 June 2026.
About the Speaker :Professor Avi Shlaim is Emeritus Professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford and one of Israel’s leading “New Historians”. His groundbreaking research on the Arab-Israeli conflict, Zionism, British policy in Palestine and the creation of Israel has challenged many established historical narratives. He is the author of numerous influential works, including The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World, Three Worlds: Memoirs of an Arab-Jew and Genocide in Gaza: Israel’s Long War on Palestine.
If Reform wins in Makerfield because Labour voters there stay at home on account of Andy Burnhams’ non recognition of the apartheid Israel’s genocide in Gaza,( and now also in Lebanon and arguably the West Bank), it will surely be yet another huge nail in the Labour Government’s coffin. Is he still a ‘friend of Israel?