“The taxi pulls up outside the locked black iron gates of the British and Commonwealth War Cemetery on Saladin Street. We call the number listed for press wishing to visit, and look down an avenue of trees that lead to a monument on which is written the regiments buried here and the campaigns they took part in. Later the young people who showed us around will point to it and say: “See it says Palestine on it — this was Palestine.” Chris Rose writes about visiting the British and Commonwealth War Cemetery in Gaza.
The taxi pulls up outside the locked black iron gates of the British and Commonwealth War Cemetery on Saladin Street. We call the number listed for press wishing to visit, and look down an avenue of trees that lead to a monument on which is written the regiments buried here and the campaigns they took part in.
Later the young people who showed us around will point to it and say: “See it says Palestine on it — this was Palestine.”
The cemetery was originally positioned outside Gaza’s Old City. However that was long before the influx of refugees from the Nakba in 1948, and now the cemetery is surrounded by the urban sprawl, cheap grey concrete and dust that is synonymous with Gaza.
We drive round to the back entrance and walk into a cemetery that could have been lifted from Flanders fields. Rows and rows of neatly marked gravestones sit on a beautifully maintained lawn.
Our fight is not with Jewish people. They are just people like us. Our struggle is with the Zionists who want to take everything from us. We just want a chance to live.”
We are approached by three of the teenage boys from the family who maintain the cemetery and spend the next hour walking round it with them. “There are 3,691 graves here, 210 from the Second World War, mainly Australians, and over 3,000 from the First World War”, explains the oldest.
He shows us the graves of the UN peacekeeping forces killed between 59 and 61, then the two separate mass graves for the 12 Muslim and 25 Hindu soldiers of the Indian Army killed in WW1. They, in keeping with so Commonwealth War Cemeteries, were not awarded individual graves and were separated from the Commonwealth soldiers in death as they had been in life.
Unknown Soldiers: Jewish graves in the British and Commonwealth War Cemetery in Gaza.
We pass by countless graves for unknown soldiers and our young guide then explains that there are 4 Jewish graves in the Cemetery. We ask if these are ever vandalized or damaged. He looks so surprised:
“No, of course not. You see the lighter graves — those are new stones. They are the ones that the Israeli’s destroyed in the last 3 wars (2009, 2012 and 2014), and had to be replaced. But no one would damage these 4 graves. Our fight is not with Jewish people. They are just people like us. Our struggle is with the Zionists who want to take everything from us. We just want a chance to live.”
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“Farmers proudly brought some of the fruits and vegetables they had managed to produce this harvest, many of which they had not been able to farm before. One farmer from a community in the Boaco communities proudly showed off his crop of tomatoes, which was a first for him, in such a dry region where they are generally not easy to grow.” Katie Hagley writes about how communities in Teustepe, Nicaragua are beginning to thrive.
It was the year of semi-lockdown’s and no travelling, of virtual fundraising and rebuilding Palestinian homes but not leaving the UK. As we look ahead to 2022, we’re also going to look back at a year of more creative fundraising and appeals, of webinars and COP26, of running and cycling. This is the Amos staff team’s review of 2021.
“Living in Bethlehem and celebrating Christmas in the place where Jesus was born to me is a true blessing, regardless of limitations and challenges faced as a religious minority group.” Farah Masoud and Lara Mitri write about the Orthodox Christmas Eve in Palestine.
“As a Palestinian woman, I have always belonged to too many marginalised groups; a woman, a Palestinian, a Christian in a Jewish state. I have often felt that I am standing alone, always aware that our leaders could not be relied on to care for us. Instead, we have to do it.” Sally Azzam Cook writes about Christmas in Nazareth as a child.
“It was many years before I had the opportunity to meet and hear from Palestinians face to face. And it turned out to be decisive in pushing my thoughts and feelings forward.” Monday 29th November was the United Nations Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people. Our Chair of trustees, Robert Cohen, gave these reflections to mark the day during our Beautiful Resistance carol service tour in Leeds.
“Ahead of the conference, many environmental scholars and activists were sceptical about what the outcome would be — claiming that promises from the Paris Agreement were still yet to be met. This sentiment is mainly fuelled by the perpetrators of the climate crisis, such as the UK and the US, taking centre stage at the negotiating table.” Amos Research Intern Fleur Boya writes from Glasgow.
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