4 Aug 2014

Gaza’s enduring echoes from world war one

Nearly a century ago, British soldiers invaded Gaza to push out the Turks. Paul Mason pays a visit to what was to be the final resting place for some.

Almost 100 years ago the British army descended on Gaza to force out the Ottoman empire. Thousands of lives were lost, districts were desolated and mosques destroyed, including the ancient Omari Mosque.

Paul Mason, who is on the ground in Gaza, visited a cemetery for British soldiers who died in the conflict.

At the time the British said: “Turks were using the Great Mosque as an ammunition dump… the Turks paid the penalty for their sacrilegious trickery”. Sound familiar?

Today several large mosques stand in ruins: Israel says they were sheltering “weapons caches and Hamas command and training facilities”.