DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN!

[Eran Tearosh]

 

The ANZAC Visitors Center in Beersheba War Cemetery –

How to prevent future repetition of such a mistake?

 

During 2016-2017 the ANZAC Visitors Center was built on a plot of land owned till then by the CWGC (Land originally given to the IWGC 'in perpetuity' by the people of Palestine. It is not clear if this plot of land was given in perpetuity or leased to the Beersheba Municipality). The ANZAC Visitors Center, whose construction financed mostly or entirely by non-governmental Australian entities, concentrates on describing the Australian part of the EEF (Egyptian Expeditionary Force) and the Australian part in the Battle of Beersheba, fought on October 31^st, 1917, well known as “The charge of the Australian Light Horse”. 

 

Please note:

• The following represents my personal view and opinion and has nothing to do with various entities or organizations that I’m otherwise associated with.
• The following refers purely to the site of the Anzac Visitors Center inside a CWGC cemetery, and not to the general principle or initiative for the creation of such a Visitors Center; placed anywhere else it would have been welcomed.
• The agreements/contracts between the three entities involved – The CWGC, Beersheba municipality, Jewish National Fund (JNF Israel, JNF Australia and any sub-contractor on their behalf) are not available to the public. However, being very closely concerned with Great War activities in this country, I’ve heard over the last three years many details about these agreements from various people of these organizations and others connected to this matter, including various diplomats. Whenever I heard the same piece of information repeating itself – I related to that as probably a fact, but still in a cautious way. In other cases, I relate to pieces of information I heard only once in an even more cautious way, yet if they fit the general picture – I do consider them as possible accurate information.
• Today, the existence of the Visitors Center is a fact, and there’s not much that can be done about it at this time (See more on this matter further below). The main issue at this stage is to explore if this was a correct and legitimate decision, and if not – what can be done to prevent similar such mistaken decisions in the future.

 

The decision about the construction of the ANZAC Visitors Center in the Beersheba War Cemetery has been debated in the GWF on these two previous threads:

https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/233115-beersheva-cwgc-cemetery-2015-2018/

https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/254795-beersheba/

 

Reading through the comments made on these two threads summarizes well enough the general feelings among knowledgeable enthusiasts regarding the decision for constructing this center on CWGC land.  The way I see it, the construction of the center at this site violates three major principles of IWGC/CWGC commemoration:

 

1.    Equality of the fallen

2.    The creation and maintenance of “A God’s Acre”

3.    Free accessibility to all

 

I believe the first two principles are covered thoroughly in the threads and there’s no need for me to repeat them again. As to free access to all – The ANZAC Visitors Center violates this principle as well. There are entry fees, which are in Israeli terms not cheap.

 

Here are a few facts (Under the limitations I stated above) and questions regarding the process of the construction of the ANZAC Visitors Center:

 

 

 

• The CWGC land was given in perpetuity or indefinitely leased to the Beersheba municipality.

 

I believe this raises several questions:

 

o     Can the CWGC do with their land (Plots of land adjacent to the burials) whatever they please? As far as I know – The CWGC is operating as an inter-governmental entity, responsible for the care of these precious War Cemeteries, on behalf of the general public.  So, does the general public have any right (Above all – Families of those who are buried there) to express an opinion on this matter? This subject is debated (Not directly) in a new thread that was presented on the forum a few days ago:

https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/268159-ethos-of-iwgccwgc/

o     Was the land in Beersheba War Cemetery given in perpetuity or indefinitely leased to the Beersheba municipality? This is important, in order to understand future usage of the building in case it ceases to function as the ANZAC Visitors Center (See further below).   

o     There are various different rumors regarding the nature of this transaction, between the CWGC and the Beersheba municipality. Most rumors are that it was free of charge. If that’s the case – Why on earth would the CWGC hand over a plot of its land to a different entity with nothing in return?

And if there was something given to the CWGC in return (Money, alternative plot of land, future construction rights etc.) – Isn’t it the right of the public to know details, especially as this created what seems to be a violation of some of the CWGC’s founding commemoration principles (See below)?

 

• The construction dominates the cemetery and has changed the look of the cemetery forever, violating the original concepts of the creation of “a God’s acre” (See photos below) and “equality before God”. This dominating structure is dedicated to one nationality (Australian, with a bit reference to the New-Zealanders, who were/are a part of ANZAC) and I’ve been told by several people that the Australian government (Through the local embassy) were involved with the supervision of the center’s content, as were representatives of the CWGC. The Australian Ambassador was involved with first stages of this ‘project’, as both the Mayor of Beersheba and the Australian Ambassador confirmed publicly.

 

The Beersheba War Cemetery’s “God’s Acre” in the early days

 

 

Beersheba War Cemetery in the CWGC’s website

(Are they too ashamed to show the updated view?)

 

 

Beersheba War Cemetery today

 

Questions:

o      Aren’t the concepts of “a God’s acre” and “equality before God” embedded into the core and essence of the CWGC? (See GWF members remarks on this matter in the linked threads above and Lieut.-Colonel Sir Frederic Kenyon’s 1918 report to the IWGC [Imperial War Graves Commission] titled WAR GRAVES – HOW THE CEMETERIES ABROAD WILL BE DESIGNED)

o      How is it possible that the CWGC doesn’t view the ANZAC Visitors Center as a violation of these principles?

o     How is it possible that the representatives of the other countries that form the CWGC, authorized the construction of a Visitors Center dedicated to one nation’s (Australian) involvement and casualties, without reference to the very many others who are buried at this site? This is particularly directed to the British, as most of the casualties buried in Beersheba are British. Are there no monitoring procedures?

 

 

 

• As stated above – it is not clear whether the CWGC’s land was given in perpetuity or indefinably leased to the Beersheba Municipality. As the ANZAC Visitors Center has a very limited annual potential number of visitors, it is possible that in future it won’t be able to justify operation and will shut down.

 

Questions:

o       If the land was given in perpetuity – what if the Beersheba Municipality uses the structure for a completely different purpose?

o       If the land was leased – Is a shutdown of the ANZAC Visitors Center considered as a violation of the lease? In case of such a violation – Does the land return to the CWGC? And in such a case – what about the building structure, whose over-arching dominance of the cemetery negates the very serenity hoped for in the original design of 'God’s Acre’?

 

 

There are many other open questions, but I believe this is more than enough to start a discussion between members, and that hopefully, it will make its way to relevant people in the CWGC and/or British officials that should look into this.

 

I truly believe that it is the right of the public to receive answers on these matters. It is also right and proper to discuss this subject so that a similar desecration does not happen again in the future in another CWGC cemetery.

 

Eran 

  

Edited 20 December , 2018 by Eran Tearosh

[Gareth Davies]

I can't answer any of your questions Eran but I look forward to being able to chat them through - and hopefully some answers - when I am back over there in March.  Have you written to the CWGC?  Or maybe to the British DA?

[Eran Tearosh]

Hi Gareth,

 

Great! Looking forward to chat with you when you arrive!

Yes, I spoke (Didn't write) with the local CWGC since 2016. I also spoke during 2016-2017 with British Ambassador to Israel and to the British DA. 

 

 

[Gareth Davies]

I would suggest a letter to the CWGC HQ in the UK.

[Eran Tearosh]

At this stage, I prefer that someone will draw the attention of CWGC HQ to this thread. 

[Gareth Davies]

I can do that via Twitter. 

[Marilyne]

Eran,

 

I agree with you: the building is absolutely horrible and does not fit at all with the architecture of the cemetery.

There are mutliple examples showing how it SHOULD be done (Lijssenthoek, Tyne Cot,... ) and this is not it.

 

I'll be over in Israel in April, but not sure if the group will make it there ...

 

M.

[keithmroberts]

I agree, it looks entirely out of keeping with the cemetery. It is hard to understand why such an inappropriate design should have been accepted by the CWGC.

[Jim Strawbridge]

Ghastly.

[michaeldr]

Nature abhors a vacuum and any void will be immediately filled, in this case by rumour and conjecture. The unexplained transfer of prime real estate or the construction of a totally inappropriate building anywhere always brings forth the very sort of suggestions which an international organisation such as the CWGC should be avoiding like the plague.

 

This sort of thing is seen all too frequently in newspapers, and in periodicals such as Private Eye: the CWGC should never have been placed in a position such as this.

Just as the Anzac Visitors Centre casts an unwanted shadow over the graves at Beersheva, it also tarnishes the reputation of those whose job it is to preserve the dignified memory of men who have sacrificed everything for others. Silence will only further damage that reputation and increase the uncertainty and fears regarding the fates of the other CWGC cemeteries across the world.

 

Don't let this happen again, ever, anywhere!

[Guest]

All roads lead to CWGC to answer to their involvement in ownership/control of the land in question.  If the answer is not clear from CWGC, then how about a question or two to the  Oz. Military (esp. Australian War Memorial)?. It may well be that the Anzac centre is outside of CWGC control. It would seem a breach of CWGC's standards and traditions of safeguarding-of the nature of those that regularly come up with CWGC in connection with road and building schemes in France and Belgium.

 

     A small caveat- as I am sure Erin would point out. Records of land-holding in  Ottoman Palestine are not good-slightly better under the Palestine Mandate. But records of land ownership is a perpetually contentious issue in the modern day State of Israel and territories adjacent. A clear answer may not be there- and getting hold of what land records there are may be a murky business indeed,as there are any number of political fingers in that particular pie.

[Ken Lees]

If I was outraged about something, I think the best way to address the issue would be to approach those responsible for it, not to post here and then ask someone to refer the responsible authority to the thread. 

Edited 21 December , 2018 by Ken Lees

[michaeldr]

Records of land-holding in  Ottoman Palestine are not good-slightly better under the Palestine Mandate. But records of land ownership is a perpetually contentious issue in the modern day State of Israel and territories adjacent. A clear answer may not be there- and getting hold of what land records there are may be a murky business indeed,as there are any number of political fingers in that particular pie.

 

As far as I am aware, the land for the CWGC cemetery at Beersheva was allocated from a pre-existing cemetery, and in common with all the Commonwealth cemeteries here, it was given by the people of Palestine in perpetuity.

There is no doubt about the CWGC's title to the land

The are however grave doubts about the recent disposal of a portion of that land, and the construction upon that portion of an inappropriate building

[Guest]

Thanks-  let's see what CWGC have to say!!    I suppose we are at a point where the sombre and dignified remembrances done for the families of those killed-of whom there are now effectively none- must give way to the Great War as theme-park-that is, a resource- dare I say it- "visitor attraction"  to deal with modern-day interest.  I don't think there will ever be uniformity of interest on this.

[Sjack91]

Visited the centre a few months back and agree it looks very out of place. One thing it does have though is the potential to be a great asset to WW1 in Palestine. The museum has virtually nothing on display other than a few small cabnets which could be so much better if they included all nations. They have a collection of folders with information of those ANZAC soldiers who are interred at Beersheba which I found interesting but it was only ANZAC soldiers. I would have like to have contributed the information on my Scottish soldier however I'm sure it would not have even been displayed. 

 

As said it has potential and although it looks terrible the content in the building could be a far more fitting tribute to the men who fell and fought there but unfortunately it is not.

[michaeldr]

On 21/12/2018 at 12:52, Ken Lees said:

If I was outraged about something, I think the best way to address the issue would be to approach those responsible for it, not to post here and then ask someone to refer the responsible authority to the thread. 

 

 

As Eran has indicated in his opening post, since this project was first talked about publicly (2015? - https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/233115-beersheva-cwgc-cemetery-2015-2018/) he has put forward his views to ambassadors, attachés and the local representatives of the CWGC, but without being able influence the final, appalling decision. Eran's title to this thread (Don't Let This Happen Again) tacitly acknowledges that for Beersheva it is already too late. I hope that it is not too late to save other CWGC cemeteries from a similar fate.

 

 

What has changed in the principles of the CWGC that they can now dispose of cemetery land in this way, without regard to the dignity of those interred there?

 

What has changed today that allows the CWGC to trash the architect Burnet's idea of

“a quiet and reverent ‘God’s Acre’ reverently enclosed and symbolic of that  unity of action and absence of individuality which characterises the War’?

 

What has changed at the CWGC that they can now drop and ignore the precept of 'equality of sacrifice'?

 

Alas, for Beersheva time has already run out and a generation or more will pass with this awful affront glowering over the graves there. I would hope others are also outraged by this and concerned enough to take this matter further, before a CWGC cemetery which they care about is changed forever.

 

Don't Let It Happen Again!

Edited 23 December , 2018 by michaeldr

[Eran Tearosh]

Thank you Michael.

 

Ken, In addition to being in touch regarding this 'project' with ambassadors, defence attachés and CWGC personal - I also tried to convince people in Beersheba and the JNF (both in Israel and in Australia) to at least change the nature of the Visitors Center to relate more to the multinational Battle of Beersheba (with an obvoius more central reference to the Australian part, being the source of the funding). All in vain.

I hope that if the pressure will come from other directions (mostly within the U.K.), something will happen to prevent this from happening again, and hopefully we'll also understand what went wrong in Beersheba.

You didn't express your own views regarding the structure in Beersheba War Cemetery.

 

Eran

[Ken Lees]

1 hour ago, Eran Tearosh said:

You didn't express your own views regarding the structure in Beersheba War Cemetery.

 

I don't have any.

[MaureenE]

I agree with Gareth in post 4, that you should contact the CWGC HQ, in particular I would be contacting the Chairman of the Commissioners

https://www.cwgc.org/about-us/our-commissioners

 

Perhaps I am cynical, but it wouldn't surprise me if it's  a political matter between the Australians and Israelis. A matter of "If you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours".

 

Perhaps the Australians wanted the Centre, and perhaps the Israelis wanted Australia to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, or something similar.  This has been in the news in Australia recently as the former Australian Ambassador to Israel, Dave Sharma https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Sharma was the unsuccessful Liberal Party (meaning Conservative) candidate in a recent Federal by-election, during the campaign for which it was announced that by the ruling Liberal Party  that Australia was considering  recognising Jerusalem. The current Australian War Memorial director Brendan Nelson is a past Liberal Party parliamentary member and Minister. The Australian representative  on the CWGC is the current High Commissioner for Australia, a former Liberal Party parliamentary member and Minister.  It's all very interconnected.

 

If you are on Facebook, there is a CWGC Facebook page where you could perhaps post a comment.

https://www.facebook.com/commonwealthwargravescommission/

 

Cheers

Maureen

Edited 24 December , 2018 by Maureene

[Eran Tearosh]

Maureene,

 

I think you touched an interesting connection, but I really don't think this has anything to do with official relations between Australia and Israel. 

As far as I know, the Australian Government was not involved directly, and the financing came from private Australian donors & entities, mostly (Probably only) through JNF Australia - See this dedication sign (Below), left of the center's entrance door. Note that there's no official reference to national Australia. 

 

      

 

 

However, you did point towards Dave Sharma, who was the Australian Ambassador to Israel at that time. Indeed, Sharma (Charismatic and charming person) played a major role in the early stages of the process that led to the construction of the ANZAC's Visitors Center, together with the Mayor of Beersheba. He was replaced in 2017, prior to the opening. His replacement, Chris Cannan, definitely was not involved.

 

Eran

 

[michaeldr]

Maureene

 

Thank you for joining the dots here

I had met Sharma when he was the ambassador; very informally, just a brief chat between two persons walking around Beersheva CWGC cemetery.

As Eran has pointed out he was “charismatic and charming”

I had no idea that the connections ran any deeper.

Very interesting indeed

 

regards

Michael

[Eran Tearosh]

 

During a visit to Beersheba War Cemetry yesterday I found this official sign, renewed lately, of the Beersheba Municipality, next to cemetery's fence:

 

       

 

There's a difference between the Hebrew and English version. In Hebrew, the caption is - The British Military Cemetery.

See for yourself what the caption in English says...

 

This is the sign's location:

 

I'll contact the local CWGC office on this matter next week, when they return to work. 

 

Eran

Edited 4 January , 2019 by Eran Tearosh

[michaeldr]

Eran,

 

Thanks for pointing this out

That it is wrong and misleading is probably the politest thing to say about it.

Having got the title correct in their Hebrew headline, I simply cannot believe the mistranslation into English.

 

Alas, it is on a par with the errors in other pieces of promotional material/tourist information supplied by the Beersheva municipality.

Compare the CWGC's own description 

 

with that given in the Beersheva Tourist Department's 'Welcome to Beersheva' leaflet'; 

"1239 British Empire Soldiers are buried here, most of them are Australian and New-Zealand born" (sic)

 

 

[michaeldr]

8 hours ago, Eran Tearosh said:

I'll contact the local CWGC office on this matter next week, when they return to work. 

 

I may be wrong, but as the sign stands outside the cemetery wall, I suspect that the CWGC will say that it's the responsibility of the Beersheva municipality

[Eran Tearosh]

Maybe so, but as the CWGC probably gave the ANZAC's Center plot free of charge, one would expect a bit more respect on the Beersheba side. I'll write the British embassy too - maybe an official letter from the embassy to the Mayor would make him understand something (I doubt...).