Has Britain Re-Found Its Moral Compass?

Through the years I have battled to expose the hypocrisy and the double standards of western politicians when it comes to Israel and the Palestinians’ inalienable rights of freedom, justice and self determination. Why am I singling out western politicians and governments? The answer is simple, because they have been and still are the dominant power in the world since WW1.

In the throes of WW1 in 1916, Britain promised Sherif Hussein of Mecca that if he joined the war with his followers on the side of the Allies he and his people would get their freedom and their countries back. At the same time, a secret plan was being hatched by Britain and France to divide the spoils of war between them.

This disgraceful treaty was called the Sykes/Picot agreement and was followed by another, even more disgraceful undertaking. On November 2nd, 1917, the then Foreign Secretary, Lord Balfour, a British Christian Zionist wrote a personal letter to Lord Rothschild, a British, Jewish Zionist, in which Lord Balfour promised that His Majesty’s Government would look with favour upon the establishment of a ‘homeland’ for the Jews in Palestine. This act of treachery on the part of Britain took place long before the establishment of the British Mandate in Palestine.

The Balfour Declaration, a simple letter, of sixty-seven words, signalled the fate of both the indigenous Palestinian population and its Zionist invaders to be locked for ever after in endless conflict.

There has been many a book, article, comment, opinion written or said about this disgraceful document, including by myself, but my favourite, amongst a plethora of comments, is that of Jewish, Iraqi- born Israeli, Professor Avi Schlaim:

“Thus, by a stroke of the imperial pen, the Promised Land became twice-promised. Even by the standards of Perfidious Albion, this was an extraordinary tale of double-dealing and betrayal.”

Incidentally, Professor Avi Schlaim is an Israeli historian, Emeritus Professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford and fellow of the British Academy.

The astounding treachery and double-dealing he described continued all through the British Mandate in Palestine and beyond. The conniving British Government, again, together with France and Israel invaded Egypt in 1956, known as the tripartite invasion, further proof that they were wedded to the Zionist Cause and the supremacy of the newly created State of Israel come what may.

This utterly biased, immoral and illegal blanket support and cover of the Israeli Army occupation and ethnic cleansing of Palestine continues until today. On the centenary anniversary of the Balfour Declaration almost three years ago, the British Prime Minister of the time, Mrs Theresa May, invited war criminal and architect of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, Mr Netanyahu, to a celebratory dinner, where she greeted him with a speech in which she said:

“When some people suggest we should apologise for this letter, I say absolutely not.

We are proud of our pioneering role in the creation of the State of Israel.

We are proud to stand here today together with Prime Minister Netanyahu and declare our support for Israel. And we are proud of the relationship we have built with Israel.

And as we mark one hundred years since Balfour, we look forward to taking that relationship even further.”

Mrs May, I am glad to say, has ended up in the dustbin of history, with nothing to call her own, let alone a legacy. The irony of all ironies is that Mrs May was succeeded by another ardent Zionist and supporter of Israel, our current Prime Minister, Mr Boris Johnson, who infamously said during his election campaign:

“I am a passionate Zionist. I am a supporter of Israel. I believe in its existence. I’ve been on a kibbutz for heaven’s sake.” speaking on LBC radio, July 23 2019.

As we all know, this myth of the miracle of Israel and how they made the desert bloom has been articulated by many British Prime Ministers, Ministers, MPs, journalists and commentators who have sipped from the poisoned chalice of Zionist propaganda.

Every day over the last fifty two years of living in England I have tried and tried to find a glimmer of hope that the government in Whitehall, where our tragedy was born, would find its moral compass and take a step towards recognising the Palestinians’ right for justice, freedom and self determination.

I have been disappointed.

But I also believe in looking for the silver lining and three days ago I found it when I heard from CAABU- The Council for the Advancement of Arab British Understanding – that there is hope.

It came in the form of a letter, written on the official letter-head of Conservative MP, Crispin Blunt and signed by over 130 fair-minded British MPs from both sides of the house. They also include Lord Chris Patten of Barnes, the former European Commissioner for External Relations, former Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell and Baroness Helena Kennedy QC.

Crispin Blunt letter

The letter speaks of the outrage of the House over the news that Israel intends to ‘annex’ parts of the West Bank, occupied after the 6-day war in 1967 and points out that “the Israeli government will use the cover of the Covid-19 pandemic to seek to implement this egregious plan”.

Of course it will. This is their modus operandi. When the world is dealing with a crisis and looking the other way, use it to your best advantage. Here it is, in black and white, expressed by Zionist ex-mayor of Chicago, and special adviser to Barak Obama, Rahm Israel Emanuel.

“Never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”

The letter also states that when Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014, “Britain quite properly opposed these acts with appropriate measures, including robust sanctions. Words are not enough”.

At last, some politicians with back-bone calling it as it is.

I very much hope that the British government, who gave away my country over 100 years ago, will find that moral compass it appeared to have lost all those years ago.

And at this time of the global turmoil of COVID-19 what is a world without hope?

Jafar M Ramini is a Palestinian writer and political analyst, based in London, presently in Perth, Western Australia. He was born in Jenin in 1943 and was five years old when he and his family had to flee the terror of the Urgun and Stern gangs. Justice for the people of Palestine is a life-long commitment.


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