Update:

Update: 6:39:36 am GMT+1:

Update: 6:36 am GMT+1:

Update: 6:18 am GMT+1:

Update: Homestretch countdown with only 262 more signatures to go, they are still rolling in @ 1:17 am GMT+1:

Update: Nightowls kickin’ it! Welcome to a new day in the UK. Countdown Sept.5, 2015 12:36 am GMT+1:

Original:

On August 7, UK citizen Damian Moran posted a petition on the UK Government and Parliament E-petition website calling for Netanyahu to “be arrested for war crimes upon arrival in the U.K for the massacre of over 2000 civilians in 2014”. The petition spread swiftly on social media internationally as signatures piled up by the thousands. At approximately 4:40 pm GMT+1 today, September 4th, the petition had garnered over 99,000 signatures and will likely reach 100,000 in the next several hours — less than one month from the petition’s posting.

Signatories are limited to British citizens or UK residents. The UK government promises a response on all petitions if and when they garner 10,000 signatures. At 100,000 the petition “will be considered for debate in Parliament”. Hence, the petition could be debated in the House of Commons. However, since the establishment of the UK Directgov E-Petition site two years ago, almost half the petitions submitted by the public have been flat out rejected, only 10 have gotten a response from the government, and thus far, none have resulted in a parliamentary debate.

The Guardian called these petitions “rarely more than a farce” (the url spells out “worse-than-useless”) and the chance this petition will be considered for debate for more than a split second are slim to none, and the chance the House of Commons will debate whether or not to arrest Netanyahu for war crimes is practically nil.

Still, people love this petition, I know I do. I’ve been checking it and watching the count rise all month. I have confidence, each and every British citizens who adds their signature to this petition, speaks vicariously for thousands of us from around the world who seek justice and accountability for war crimes committed, cumulatively representing millions of people from all walks of life.

So we’re hosting our own countdown.

As of this moment the number of signatories is 99,183. We will be updating that figure when we publish. And we’ll be adding a few screenshots as we get into the final stretch, while gratefully cheering on British citizens adding their signatures to this petition.

Update: Final countdown. 6:00 am GMT+1 – we’re down to double digits:

Update: 3:00 am GMT+1, we’re noticing a gradual slowdown. It is probable the British sleep:

Update: 2:00 am GMT+1:

Update: 1:00 am GMT+1:

Update: 12:00 am GMT+1:

Update: 11:00 pm GMT+1:

Update: 10:00 pm GMT+1:

Update 9 pm GMT+1:

Update 8 pm GMT+1:

Update 7 pm GMT+1:

4:40 pm GMT+1:

Following is the British Government’s response to the petition delivered last month accessed at the base of the petition: