Forgotten Gaza war cemetery partly in ruins - An inconvenient history
The use of war commemoration and remembrance as a political tool by politicians and their media supporters is evident in the lack of attention on the Gaza war cemeteries. Whilst apparently concerned about risks of desecration of war memorials at home, the actual destruction of historic WW1 and WW2 sites in Gaza, and devastation of communities that preserved and cherished them, are not worth highlighting. Rather, the sites provide personal experience and historical context to the conflict that may be unwelcome - as well, highlighting a small and more restrained part of the extreme destruction inflicted across the occupied territory, including cemeteries.
There are three main sites in Gaza, funded by the UK government and other Commonwealth nations, through the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC). Two are large cemeteries which date back to the First World War and hold memorials and remains of, altogether, over four thousand British imperial service personnel and has a mass burial site for Ottoman forces. The Gaza War Cemetery also holds burials of Australian and Polish WW2 service personnel and Canadian and Indian UN peacekeeping forces. The third site commemorates Egyptians of the Labour Corps, who died building railway tracks and transporting supplies for British troops in harsh conditions during WW1.
Currently, the Gaza war cemeteries lie damaged but protected from the most severe destruction of most of the rest of Gaza. Outer sections have been most badly damaged with the Indian, Ottoman & Egyptian and Canadian UN sections showing signs of severe damage or destruction in satellite images. The Indian and Ottoman & Egyptian sections show signs of having been turned over.
Five members of the core Gaza cemeteries staff were released from Gaza into Egypt around early May with “immediate families”, with one person reportedly remaining. Those now in exiled refuge include Head Gardener, Ibrahim Jaradah Jr - from the fourth generation of his family to care for the war graves in Palestine. The individual remaining in Gaza may be gardener, Yacoub Ismali. The situations of retired team leaders, Essam Jaradah and Muhammad Awaja, are also not currently apparent. CWGC have refused to comment on their fates.
Neither the damage to the Gaza war cemeteries, nor the displacement and suffering of the staff and unknown fate of Yacoub Ismali have been cause for public attention from Britain’s media or political classes.
The Gaza war cemeteries have been damaged in previous incidents, including vandalism of some 30 headstones in 2004. Gaza cemetery staff, including members of the long-serving Jaradah family, reportedly chased away armed men who were acting in retaliation of news of torture of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib by US and UK armed forces.
The BBC reported Head Gardener, Essam Jaradah saying: "Our religion as Muslims and our tradition as Palestinians forbid such acts." CWGC’s spokesman, Peter Francis, said: "Shock, disgust and anger are the emotions that spring to mind, tinged with relief that Mr Jaradeh and his father were unharmed.” He added: “It must be extremely distressing for the relatives of those commemorated in the cemetery and we would like to reassure them that we will do everything possible to replace the tombstones as soon as possible.” The Foreign Office also gave a statement, saying: "There's no justification for what has happened to these graves."
An Israeli military assault in Gaza in 2006 left bulldozer and shelling damage to the Gaza War Cemetery, which Israel later paid £20,000 to the CWGC for repairs. The more devastating Operation Cast Lead of 2008/09 left over 350 headstones damaged and turf singed by white phosphorus. The UK requested £80,000 for repairs but Israel denied responsibility and would eventually pay half this amount for repairs as a gesture, they stated, of goodwill. Israel has made it difficult for the CWGC to import replacement headstones, enforcing a blockade on Gaza that permitted prescribed “essential” items only.
Immediately after ceasefire, in 2009, in a February House of Lords debate, Lord Ahmed, condemned Israel’s indiscriminate bombing and cited the damage caused to the Gaza War Cemetery for British soldiers. A group of MPs of the Foreign Affairs Committee visited Gaza in March and reported on the damage caused to the cemetery and praised the work of the staff. They recommended the Government press for compensation from Israel and asked for an update on the issue.
Despite Israel’s imposition of a blockade on Gaza, in 2007, and frequent escalations in violence and military assaults, British politicians and media continued to visit Gaza war cemeteries. They would often meet Ibrahim Jaradah Sr., who served at the cemetery for over 50 years, starting in the late 1950s and passing away in May 2017. He was once invited to London for an investiture ceremony to receive an MBE for his work for the CWGC but did not travel, instead, a ceremony was held by the beach in Gaza. In an interview, decades later, Jaradah claimed he refused to travel to the UK, whilst another report claims that he was prevented from going. After his official retirement, and handing over duties to his son, Essam, and latterly, his grandson, also called Ibrahim, Ibrahim Jaradah Sr. continued to work as an unofficial caretaker and advisor. He also cared for his wife during sickness in her final years.
Ibrahim Jaradah Sr. and his family left an impression on Richard Graham MP (Cons), during a 2011 visit to the cemetery. In a 2016 Parliamentary debate on the work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Richard Graham MP cited the Jaradahs: “There is also the extraordinary Commonwealth war graves cemetery in Gaza, which I think I am right in saying has been tended by the same Palestinian family since it was put up, now presumably almost 80 years ago.” In November 2023, Graham shared an image online of himself standing side by side with Ibrahim Jaradah Sr. in the cemetery before the Cross of Remembrance.
In fact, the Jaradah family commenced work with the Imperial War Graves Commission (IWGC), as it was, 100 years ago, in Beersheba, now in Israel. Rabie Jaradah was working there in the 1920s. After the displacement of over 700,000 Palestinians in 1948 by forces establishing the state of Israel, he escaped to Gaza with his family, where they have since lived and worked at the Gaza cemeteries, until the October 2023 escalation in war. Ibrahim Jaradah Sr. traveled by camel as a boy with his father during the exodus of 1947/48.
Ibrahim Jaradah Sr. was mentioned again in Parliament in a February 2017 exchange. Dr Tania Mathias (Cons.), who had previously worked for UNRWA in Gaza, stated: “Does my Honourable Friend agree that it is extraordinary that, even during all the conflicts and intifadas, the British cemeteries in Gaza have been well maintained?” Philip Hollobone MP (Cons.) replied: “Yes, and the elderly gentleman who maintains the Commonwealth war graves in Gaza City was awarded the MBE, of which he was extraordinarily proud. I believe he has been looking after the graves for something like 60 years”.
Also in 2017, Tom Rowley, The Daily Telegraph journalist, wrote a profile of the Jaradah family, which was published online on 13 May 2017. Rowley described the elderly Ibrahim Jaradah MBE: “He has a wheelchair, but he prefers to push his Zimmer frame around the cemetery or walk between the graves with a stick, wearing slippers and a hearing aid with his grey pinstripe suit and tie.” Ibrahim Jaradah told Tom Rowley that he was not keen on retirement and said of the buried: “I love them very much. I want to protect them. They are like my children.”
Between 2014-2018, the UK commemorated the centenary of major battles of WW1. 21 May 2017 marked the centenary anniversary of the Royal Charter that established the Imperial War Graves Commission. Ibrahim Jaradah MBE died on 25 May, days later and the online announcement of his passing by his grandson, the incumbent head gardener, drew over one hundred online messages of condolence.
The WW1 centenary commemoration events drew attention to the treatment of colonial forces by British imperial leaders. David Lammy, now Shadow Foreign Secretary in the Labour Party, presented the 2019 Unremembered documentary which highlighted the choices of the Imperial War Graves Commission to not recognise the deaths, during WW1, of, in particular, many African and Asian forces of Britain. The CWGC, under pressure, went on to launch a review and a multi-year programme to amend their sites, to add individual names, where they were known, and place memorials at unmarked mass burial sites.
Since the escalation and unprecedented military assault on Gaza, launched after the 7 October attack on Israel by Hamas militants, British politicians and media have been largely silent on the Gaza war cemeteries. Early into the escalation, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission did respond in a Mail Online piece of November 2023, by Tim Friend and David Wilkes, to state: “The CWGC is concerned by the recent damage at the Gaza War Cemetery. We are monitoring the situation closely and are working to support all our dedicated colleagues and their families in the region. Their safety remains our foremost concern.”
The Mail journalists were able to contact 32 year-old Head Gardener, Ibrahim Jaradah in Khan Younis in the south, where he had fled with his wife and two infant children. He told them: “We are trying to keep smiling for the sake of the children, but we are not safe. Our neighbours have lost their lives.” On the cemetery, he added: “Now we have no idea of the state of the cemetery. Even if it was not directly targeted, it’s certain to have suffered bomb damage. It’s very worrying. But of course we still hope to return one day and resume our work.”
In the over seven months since, British politicians and media have had nothing to say publicly about the Gaza war cemeteries. In January, satellite images showed both sites had been damaged but had been shielded from the extent of devastation inflicted on Palestinian buildings and land, including graveyards. However, the images show that the sections for Indian and a section for Ottoman and Egyptian service personnel from WW1 had been turned over, possibly, by heavy vehicles. On the ground photos from Gaza shared at this time show wall, tree and headstone destruction at the edge of the smaller Deir El-Balah War Cemetery. Having identified a number of Jewish headstones, marked by the Star of David, an Israeli military corporal stated that the site would be protected from being dug up to preserve its sanctity.
Satellite images from June show the Gaza war cemeteries barren, with grass having died off. Surrounding buildings and foliage are destroyed. Royal Poinciana trees in the Gaza War Cemetery, however, remain and are in bloom with their distinctive red flowers. The cemetery has straight track marks running down it, suggesting vehicle activity. However, the most serious destruction appears, as with the Deir El-Belah War Cemetery, at the outer parts of the cemetery, where sections dedicated to Indian, Ottoman and Egyptian and, also, Canadian UN forces are located.
Behind the scenes, British and other officials have been working, no doubt, to urge Israel to protect the Gaza war cemeteries and, also, finally to release the Gaza cemetery staff. In early May 2024, after seven months of devastating war, five Gaza staff members were released into exiled safety in Egypt. This announcement was made by the CWGC on its website in the early stages of Israel’s Rafah ground invasion escalation.
During a War Graves Week debate in Parliament, in May, Defence Secretary, Grant Shapps, confirmed the news of the staff “evacuation” and stated that five of the six members of staff were in Egypt. The staff member thought to be still in Gaza may be Yacoub Ismali, though no information has been given. During the debate, no questions were asked about the remaining staff member’s situation, whether he was alive or not, or the condition of the released staff members, nor about the condition of the war cemeteries. In a discussion of over three hours dedicated to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Gaza war cemeteries and staff were mentioned only a handful of times. CWGC have not responded to a query about the situation of the sixth member of staff.
It is clear that the Gaza war cemeteries are not a convenient topic for the British political and media class, in their backing for Israel’s military operation that has been considered a plausible genocide by the International Court of Justice. The cemeteries tell a story of the dedication and humanity of the Palestinian staff and local people, including the Jaradah family and a shared history, with roots of the current conflict in British imperial foreign policy. The cemeteries, in the control of Israeli forces, eyed by extremist settler factions and overlooked by Britain, may have their stories rewritten.