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LONDON: The UK government is to receive a petition calling on it to take responsibility for crimes committed from the time of the Balfour Declaration in 1917 to the end of the British Mandate for Palestine in 1948.

The declaration was a public statement made by the British government expressing support for the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine.

The petition, compiled by human rights lawyers on behalf of 14 Palestinians, accuses the state of “serial international law violations” and contains more than 400 pages of “incontrovertible evidence.”

Part of a broader campaign called Britain Owes Palestine, it says the UK bears unique responsibility for the situation in the region today.

The petition is a legal mechanism to prompt the government to engage with the campaign, which is calling for acknowledgment of crimes, a formal apology and reparations, following the precedent set by five previous apologies issued by the UK, most recently for the Batang Kali massacre in Malaya in 1948.

The Balfour Declaration is included in the petition as an example of wrongdoing, as well as numerous other examples of “systematic abuse” of the Palestinian people.

The petition also says Britain is responsible for the destruction of the unitary state of Palestine, for having failed to recognize an Arab Palestinian state despite promising to do so between 1915 and 1916, and for having repressed the local population during the revolt of 1936-1939 through the use of arbitrary detention, torture and murder, among other crimes.

Petitioner Saeed Husain Ahmad Haj gave testimony to the document that he witnessed Israeli Haganah paramilitaries enter his village of Tireh Dandan when he was 14, prior to his family’s expulsion to the Balata refugee camp in Nablus in 1948, where he still lives today.

Another petitioner, 91-year-old Munib Al-Masri, was shot in the leg by British soldiers aged 13 and witnessed troops rounding up civilians and keeping them bound in cages before they were executed. His testimony is also included in the petition.

Al-Masri, a friend of late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, said: “The current crisis in Palestine was ‘made in Britain’ through a catalogue of neglect and abuse of the Palestinian people. Together we have suffered more than a century of oppression.

“Britain can only play its part in building a just peace in the region today if it acknowledges its defining role in the horrors of the past. An apology would be a just start to what Palestinians expect from the British government.”

Ben Emmerson KC, a former UN special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism who helped draft the petition, said it “demonstrates, by reference to a comprehensive analysis of contemporary evidence, the extent of British responsibility for the terrible suffering in Palestine, which can be traced back to Britain’s violations of international law during its occupation and subsequent withdrawal.

“These historic injustices continue to shape the realities on the ground today. Britain owes a debt to the Palestinian people. Today’s petition is based upon the international obligations of the UK to make amends.”

ADDIS ABABA: Fanuse Adete is among those Ethiopians looking forward to finally getting connected to the national electricity grid when the Grand Renaissance Dam, which will be inaugurated Tuesday, becomes fully operational.
The 38-year-old widowed mother of seven, who lives in the Menabichu district just 10 kilometers (6 miles) outside the capital, Addis Ababa, currently survives on kerosene lamps and candles to light up her mud-walled hut at night.
“Previously, our daily lives relied on kerosene lamps and charcoal, which posed significant challenges. We would transport firewood to the market, selling it to buy kerosene and bread for our children. However, with the completion of the dam, our entire community is now happy,” she said, while lighting up firewood to make Ethiopian coffee.
Ethiopia will inaugurate the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam along the Blue Nile on Tuesday. It is expected to produce more than 5,000 megawatts, doubling Ethiopia’s current output, part of which will be exported to neighboring countries.
The dam, whose construction began in 2011, has raised concerns from neighboring Egypt and Sudan over the potential reduction of water levels downstream.
Despite the formation of a joint panel to discuss the sharing of the Blue Nile water, tensions remain high and some, like Egypt, have termed the move a security risk, saying it could lead to drought downstream.
But Ethiopia insists that the towering dam will not only benefit its more than 100 million people, but also its neighbors, and sees it as an opportunity to become Africa’s leading electricity exporter.
Ethiopian Water Minister Habtamu Itefa said his country has no intention of harming any of the neighboring countries.
“So the way forward is: let’s work together for more investment. Let’s join hands to propose more projects that can benefit all of us, wherever they may be. This can be scaled up to Nile Basin countries— to Uganda, to Tanzania, to Rwanda, to D.R.C., to South Sudan, to Kenya, to Ethiopia, to Egypt as well,” he said.
Water experts in downstream Egypt say the dam has reduced the amount of water the country receives, and the government had to come up with short-term solutions such as reducing annual consumption and recycling irrigation water.
“Egypt was able to overcome this shortage through Egypt’s High Dam, which has a water reserve that is used to replace what was lost due to the GERD. But we can’t always rely on this reserve for water supply,” said Abbas Sharaky, a professor of geology and water resources at Cairo University.
Sudanese experts say seasonal flooding has decreased during the dam’s filling, but they warn that uncoordinated water releases could lead to sudden flooding or extended dry periods.
But Itefa said that so far, the water levels recorded downstream during the dry season were “three to four-fold what they used to get before the dam.”
“This means, at the expense of the dam we built, they can have their irrigation land. Three to four-fold, they can increase that, because we are providing more water during the dry months. It is a blessing for them,” said the minister.
Yacob Arsano, who teaches hydro politics in the Nile Basin at Addis Ababa University, said Ethiopia was “very careful” with the design and planning of the dam to ensure water flows downstream throughout the year.
“Egypt continues to receive the water. Ethiopia continues to send water. So that is the remaining fact and for which how to organize such a shared use of water resources depends on the two sides. All of the upstream and downstream countries need to sit down properly and soberly,” he said.
For Ethiopians, the prospect of increased electricity supply to enhance development is welcome news. Amakelech Debalke Gebre-Giorgis, a mother of two in Addis Ababa, is looking forward to it.
“We want to see more development, and we want to see more electricity become part of our daily life, and we’re all excited,” said the mother of two.