By Simona Sikimic
Daily Star staff
BEIRUT: The British Ambassador to Lebanon, Francis Guy, on Wednesday advocated to raise the plight of some 60 Palestinian World War II veterans who reside in Lebanon in abject poverty despite years of loyal service.
“The tragic irony of their situation is heart-wringing,” Guy said in a blog post for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). “After loyally serving the Union Jack, in 1948 they were forced to flee their homes when the state of Israel was created.
“Some of them have been in refugee camps in Lebanon ever since,” she wrote.
About 6,000 Palestinians voluntarily chose to serve in the British army, serving in the Middle East and North Africa. Many did this so opposition to Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem who sided with the Axis powers in a bid to block suspected British intentions of establishing a Jewish state within Palestine as outlined in the 1917 Balfour Declaration.
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