Catalogue Number
NMLH.2022.236
Object Name
T-Shirt
Title
Samar and Jawad are Innocent
Place
Palestine, London
People
Samar Alami, Jawad Botmeh
Date
1994
Description
Large white cotton t-shirt with text on the front and back. The front of the t-shirt has grey text reading "Samar and Jawad are innocent." This is accompanied by two photographs printed onto the t-shirt, one of Samar Alami smiling, the other photograph of Jawad Botmeh. The back of the t-shirt has green text saying "freedom, justice for Samar and Jawad. www.freesaj.org.uk."
This t-shirt is in regards to the 1994 London Israeli Embassy bombing. The 1994 London Israeli Embassy bombing was a car bomb attack on 26 July 1994 against the Israeli embassy building in London, England. Twenty civilians were injured. Two Palestinians, Jawad Botmeh and Samar Alami, were wrongly convicted for the bomb attack. Alami and Botmeh were convicted of conspiracy to cause explosions in the United Kingdom. During the trial Alami and Botmeh were accused of being part of a team that had planned the bombing but were not accused of planting the bomb themselves or being present at the scene of the crime. There was no direct evidence linking the suspects to the bombing. In the course of the trial, both suspects did admit that they had conducted experiments using home made explosives in order to pass information back to Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories. Botmeh and Alami were convicted of the charges in December 1996, receiving 20-year sentences. Alami and Botmeh have maintained their innocence; Amnesty International stated that Botmeh had been "denied [his] right to a fair trial". Numerous groups and individuals campaigned on behalf of the pair, including the government of Palestine, Amnesty International, Unison (Britain's largest trade union), human rights activist Gareth Peirce, investigative journalist Paul Foot, and Miscarriages of JusticeUK (MOJUK), Support for Alami and Botmeh's appeal attracted cross-party support in Parliament â five early day motions raised by John Austin MP were supported by a total of 71 Members of Parliament, including Labour Party MPs Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, Conservative Party MPs Peter Bottomley and Robert Jackson, and Liberal Democrats Tom Brake and Colin Breed. Beyond the early day motions, further support for a review of the conviction by parliamentarians included Ian Gilmour, Baron Gilmour of Craigmillar and Harry Cohen.
The pair's appeal against their convictions came to an end when their case was dismissed by the European Court of Human Rights in 2007. Upon review of the evidence, the court concluded that their right to a fair trial had not been infringed.
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