Forum Topic

UK apology sought for British war crimes in Palestine

"The people of al-Bassa got their lesson in imperial brutality when the British soldiers came after dawn.Machine guns mounted on Rolls Royce armoured cars opened fire on the Palestinian village before the Royal Ulster Rifles arrived with flaming torches and burned homes to the ground.Villagers were rounded up while troops later herded men onto a bus and forced them to drive over a landmine which blew up, killing everyone on board.A British policeman photographed the scene as women tended to the remains of their dead, before maimed body parts were buried in a pit.It was the autumn of 1938 and UK forces were facing a rebellion in Palestine, under British control after the defeat two decades earlier of the Ottoman Empire.Britain's raid on al-Bassa was part of a declared policy by the local commander of "punitive" action against entire Palestinian villages - this one after a roadside bomb had killed four British soldiers - regardless of any evidence over who was responsible.""The atrocity was revealed in accounts by soldiers and villagers decades after the UK left. It now forms part of a file being brought to the British government seeking accountability for Palestinians subjected to alleged war crimes by UK forces.The petition, involving a 300-page dossier of evidence, asks for a formal acknowledgement and apology for abuses during the period of British rule in Palestine from 1917 until 1948, after which Britain rapidly withdrew and the State of Israel was declared.A BBC review of the historical evidence involved includes details of arbitrary killings, torture, the use of human shields and the introduction of home demolitions as collective punishment. Much of it was conducted within formal policy guidelines for UK forces at the time or with the consent of senior officers."https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-63145992British rule in Palestine 1917-1948 weakened the majority population and vastly strengthened the incoming minority.

David Ainsworth ● 19d21 Comments

'I think the main difference is that the UK pretends such things didn't and still do not happen'.Who representing the UK, is making a claim that slavery, including that carried out by the UK government and individuals at the time, did not happen ?It was legal at the time and was then abolished by Parliament.And our navy was used to attempt to curtail the practice being continued by other countries namely France and Portugal.And over ensuing times of greater learning and enlightenment, the evils of the practice were realised and increasingly condemned.The only current issue and area of disagreement regarding our participation in the activity, is whether we should pay reparations to the descendants, some many, many generations on, of those who were traded. Descendants, many of whom live in and are citizens of this country with full access to its legal, political and social benefits.And surely no one is claiming we are still participating in or condoning slavery ? This is mainly being carried on in Africa and Asia by their citizens trading their fellow countrymen and women.The UK certainly suffers from incidences of slavery.They tend to include rich African and Arabic residents 'importing' young girls for domestic service or Eastern European, mainly Albanian gangs, 'importing' men for work in such areas as car washes or fruit picking. It was to be able to counter these illegalities that the following was enacted.Modern Slavery Act 2015 CHAPTER 30'An Act to make provision about slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour and about human trafficking, including provision for the protection of victims; to make provision for an Independent Anti-slavery Commissioner; and for connected purposes'. [26th March 2015].Let's please stop this self-flagellation and 'knocking' ourselves and concentrate on the areas and states where the evil of slavery is still deliberately and often legally happening.

John Hawkes ● 14d

'Who should judge historical acts and decide whether or not they were crimes in the first place'?The key question for can one really assess on a criminal basis acts that were considered legal at the time ?And also how does one assess the effect today on the descendants of those who were enslaved in the past ?If there were to be a Truth and Reconciliation Commission -1) Who would be called to give evidence regarding their participation ?a) The British of course for both the part it played both in the trade AND its parliamentary and military steps to bring the practice to an end ?Netted against the benefits Britain accrued from slavery should also be the benefits of improved infrastructure and political and legal systems we left behind for the descendants of slaves, even though one must concede this was not an intentional act of generosity.And let us also not forget the right given to the descendants of slaves to reside in this country on an equal footing with indigenous Britons.b) Members of the African tribes that raided other tribes to capture their menfolk to be sold as slaves ?c) The Arab traders who bought the slaves for onward sale to the British plantation owners in the Caribbean ?d) The Portuguese and French governments who continued to enforce slavery long after the British stopped ?2) What criteria would be used to assess the 'direct effects certain crimes in the past are having today ?As I have pointed out much slavery is still occurring.Would it not be more productive to challenge this rather than wring our hands over something which now as far as Britain is concerned, is over, done and dusted ?Finally it should be noted that the Arabs were also heavily involved in slavery according to Wiki and not just the 'wicked, western whites''The trans-Saharan slave trade, also known as the Arab slave trade, was a slave trade in which slaves were mainly transported across the Sahara. Most were moved from sub-Saharan Africa to North Africa to be sold to Mediterranean and Middle Eastern civilizations; a small percentage went the other direction.Estimates of the total number of black slaves moved from sub-Saharan Africa to the Arab world range from 6 to 10 million, and the trans-Saharan trade routes conveyed a significant number of this total, with one estimate tallying around 7.2 million slaves crossing the Sahara from the mid-7th century until the 20th century when it was abolished. The Arabs managed and operated the trans-Saharan slave trade, although Berbers were also actively involved.Alongside Black Africans, Turks, Iranians, Europeans and Berbers were among the people traded by the Arabs, with the trade being practised throughout the Arab world, primarily in Western Asia, North Africa, East Africa, and Europe'.

John Hawkes ● 15d