British apology for war crimes committed in Palestine

A 300-page report to be submitted to the British government later this year will present evidence of “the shocking crimes systematically committed against the Palestinian population” by the British administration, which was in power in Palestine from 1917 to 1948.

In the file prepared under the leadership of Palestinian businessman Munib al-Masri, who was shot by British soldiers as a child in 1944, an official acceptance and apology is demanded from the government.

Under Masri’s direction, two international lawyers also contributed to the report, which was covered on BBC’s Newsnight program.

About 20 years after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire and its transition to British control, uprisings broke out in Palestine.

After a roadside bomb in Palestine killed four British soldiers, British forces launched a policy of “punitive action” on all Palestinian villages, regardless of who was responsible.

The Palestinian village of Al Bassa, which was raided by the British in the autumn of 1938, went down in history as one of the places where the bloodiest actions took place.

Machine guns mounted on Rolls Royce armored vehicles opened fire on the Palestinian village. Then the infantry rifle regiment of the British Army came with flaming torches and set the houses on fire.

The villagers gathered in one place and the British soldiers forced them onto a bus. Everyone on the bus, who was forced to pass over a minefield, died.

A British police officer photographed Palestinian women who wanted to bury the remains of bodies dismembered by a landmine.

This photo is included in a 300-page evidence file claiming that British forces committed war crimes in Palestine.

The petition to be submitted to the British government along with the file demands an official acceptance and apology for the violations that took place during the British rule in Palestine from 1917 to 1948.

After 1948, Britain quickly withdrew from Palestine and the State of Israel was officially established.

The BBC’s analysis of the historical evidence in the file shows that practices such as arbitrary executions, torture, the use of human shields and the demolition of houses for mass executions are included.

Many of these were carried out within the British official policy guidelines of the period or with the permission of senior officers.

“I wanted people to know that my family suffered at a young age. And we need to be the voice of those who have died,” Eid Haddad, the son of a couple who survived al-Bassa, told the BBC.

The UK Ministry of Defense said in a statement that it is aware of historical allegations against armed forces personnel from the period in question and will “study thoroughly” any evidence provided.

The apology request is likely to be addressed in the context of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, reopening discussions of Britain’s responsibility for its crimes during the colonial era.

The request is led by prominent Palestinian entrepreneur and former politician Munib al-Masri. El Masri, 88, was shot and wounded by British soldiers in 1944 as a child.

Speaking to the BBC at his home in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, El Masri said:[İngiltere’nin rolü] I was very impressed because I saw how people were harassed… we were completely unprotected and there was no one to defend us.”

Two top international lawyers are involved in the project. These are Luis Moreno Ocampo, former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and British lawyer Ben Emmerson KC, former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism.

Emmerson told the BBC that his legal team had uncovered evidence of “shocking crimes systematically committed against the Palestinian population by certain elements of the British Mandate forces”.

El-Masri plans to submit his petition to the British government later this year.

Another atrocity is mentioned in his petition.

It is told that in the summer of 1939, soldiers from the Black Watch regiment raided houses in the village of Halhul in the West Bank and rounded up the villagers at gunpoint.

Numerous witnesses, both locals and British soldiers, describe as many as 150 men being driven into an area behind a mosque and forced into cages surrounded by barbed wire.

“These people weren’t revolutionaries, they were farmers. Revolutionaries were hiding in the mountains,” says 88-year-old Mohammed Abu Rayan, a boy when British soldiers stormed his house and occupied his rooftops.

It is stated that 13 people in the cage surrounded by barbed wire died of thirst and at least one person was shot dead while trying to escape.

“They started digging in the ground to try to eat the roots. They rubbed wet soil on their skin just to cool off,” Abu Rayan told the BBC from his home in Halhul. says.

The district commissioner of the time, Edward Keith-Roach, states in a private letter that the death toll was less:

“After the 48-hour lockdown, most of the men were very sick. 11 elderly and frail people died. I was instructed not to carry out any civil investigations.”

Britain took control of Palestine after defeating the Ottomans during the First World War.

In 1917, Foreign Minister Arthur Balfour promised the Zionists a national homeland for the Jews. This is known as the Balfour Declaration.

Britain’s authority to rule resulted in increased Jewish immigration and influence. This led to increased violence against Palestinian Arabs.

The Palestinian revolt, known as the Arab Revolt, broke out in 1936 and London filled the country with its troops.

Military historian Prof. According to Matthew Hughes, the atrocities inflicted by Britain in Palestine were “severe and shocking” but “exceptional”.

prof. According to Hughes, Britain’s systematic practices on arbitrary grounds, such as restrictions on movement, curfews, confiscation of property or crops, and the use of forced labor to build roads and military bases, are “much more fundamental, enduring and corrosive in attrition to Palestinians.” was.

“Britain’s Pacification of Palestine” author of the book Prof. “The whole country has become a kind of prison,” Hughes says.

Hughes says Britain’s military guidelines allow for “collective punishment”, “revenge” and shooting of rebels by troops, which often results in the destruction of houses. Accordingly, it was common practice for suspects to be shot while fleeing.

Al-Masri says the ongoing conflict has left the Palestinians completely vulnerable, as the newly established State of Israel has adopted some of the emergency powers left over from the British.

“Britain needs to see ways and means to make up for this… be brave and say ‘I’m sorry I did this'”.