From the archives: Britain’s suppression of the arab revolt in Palestine
JVL Introduction
On the 75th anniversary of the Nakba we repost an article by Matthew Hughes first published in 2010.
It shows in excruciating detail how all the tactics used in the Nakba and continuing to the present day were pioneered by British colonial forces (for more details see And the blood never dried…).
As the author’s introduction explains “the laws that codified military actions, allowed for some level of systemic, systematic brutality in the form of “collective punishments” and “reprisals” by the British army.”
To understand what they amounted to in practice, read on. You will need a strong stomach.
This article was originally published by Palestine-Israel Journal, Vol 39, winter 2010, pp. 6-22 on Mon 15 May 2023. Read the original here.
Britain’s suppression of the arab revolt in Palestine
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Interesting and useful paper – but the wider and more thorough study by Caroline Elkins ‘Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire’ (Bodley Head 2022) gives chapter and verse for the British violent destruction of Arab people and property from 1936-9, and places it within the traditions of British violence towards global colonialised populations, including the Irish from where ‘Black and Tan’ personnel and methods were imported to subdue the Arabs. This book is later than this paper, and Elkins is authoritative on British colonialism including its deliberate destruction and
hiding of documents, having won the legal case against the government to expose torture of Kenyans in their liberation struggle. Her account of the Arab revolt confirms and extends the above paper.
It seems ‘fashionable’ to shoot from the hip and blame ‘the British’ for the atrocities of Empire, but I believe this is dangerous and ill directed hype. If you think in crass generalisations you can easily conflate young Germans who were born after WW2 and the Hitler youth movement. It is not a great conceptual leap to extrapolate. Similarly, more than one young British Muslim student that I have taught has stated their belief that ‘the British’ should pay for their crimes and that violence should be brought to the streets of Britain in the same way that ‘the British’ brought violence to Syria; Libya or Iraq or Palestine. May I make clear that I have deep admiration and respect for these Muslim students and their community and I enjoyed living and participating in their culture for over 5 years, but I know that belief persists despite numerous classroom debates in the past, it is ‘the British’ who are to blame and therefore it is ‘the British’ people who must pay. I believe this dangerous ideology has became part of a radical indoctrination process that is not being challenged at source.
The use of vague, non specific language can only ‘muddy the waters of perception’. The British people have always been ‘kept in the dark’ about foreign policy throughout the centuries and to this day is considered to be the business of the elites in government and nothing to do with ‘the people’…
If you seek to point the finger of blame, you should specify exactly who you accusing and identify precisely who is responsible for any crime. Vague generalisations are not just a sign of lazy, confused thinking, it is irresponsible and dangerous.
I think Steve what is irresponsible and dangerous is for the British Public to continue to believe that the Empire was and is the best thing since sliced bread. The present establishment would love us to keep believing this, thank goodness there are organisations such as the ‘Heirs to Slavery’ that are trying to re educate the public. Good article that’s well researched and referenced.