The Balfour Project comments that Israel inherited, deployed after 1948 and still deploys, in the occupied Palestinian territory. many of the British defence emergency regulations, including arrest without trial, military courts house demolitions, armed attacks against civilian targets and the use of Palestinians as human shields.
The Balfour Project welcomes the report by Tom Bateman broadcast on Newsnight on 6 October on atrocities and other war crimes committed by British forces in Palestine while suppressing the Palestinian revolt in the late 1930s. It makes grim viewing and draws attention to historical fact that should be much better known.
In concluding the piece, Bateman points out that Palestinians who request an acknowledgement by Britain of what happened argue that it still matters: “it reopens the debate over bringing modern day accountability for colonial era crimes, and that recognising the injustice of the past can bring better solutions to it today”.