Why Didn’t I Know? Britain’s Legacy in Palestine

‘Why Didn’t I know? Britain’s Legacy in Palestine’ by Monica Spooner.

There is so much we don’t really know or understand, even those of us privileged to have spent much of our lives in the Levant. This book is a personal story and doesn’t seek to be otherwise. It is not a definitive history or an academic work and nor does it claim to be. What it does is unearth some key nuggets which if better known could transform the understanding of many in the United Kingdom.

Notable is the central revelation of the McMahon correspondence with Sharif Hussein promising support for an Arab state, including the lands of Palestine, two years before the infamous Balfour Declaration. But other nuggets in this endearingly told story of discovery are the content of the Israeli Declaration of Independence; the courage of organisations like Zochrot; what Israelis and others across the region are not being taught in schools and the central role of the teaching of history across the region but also in the UK.

Although it is a personal tale it covers a good deal, including the particular challenges of the Bedouin in the Negev, often overlooked. It is in essence the story of the creation of the Balfour Project, but it is much more than that and the passion of Monica and Roger to share their discoveries with others shines through.

It is an engaging book that provokes and well worth a read.

Monica’s greatest inspirations are faith, family, and medicine. Working as a doctor with children in the community in Edinburgh, and enjoying travel, she learnt history by listening to people and their stories especially in the Middle East. She and her husband co-founded the Balfour Project to challenge Britain’s legacy of deceit in Palestine/Israel. She is based in Edinburgh.

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