Exclusive: Munib al-Masri Jr is part of a campaign asking the UK to help create a ‘just future’ in Palestine – starting with an apology for its role in the crisis
He has spent 14 years in pain, adjusting to paralysis below the waist. But Munib al-Masri Jr, 37, says he forgives the Israeli soldier who shot him.
Masri is among Palestinians who welcomed the UK’s recognition of Palestinian statehood last month but are pushing the government to go further. The Britain Owes Palestine campaign that Masri is part of wants the UK to formally apologise for what they say is its historical role in creating the Middle East crisis, as ceasefire talks bring an uneasy peace to the region and raise questions about its future.
Masri believes his personal act is one sign of how “many [Palestinian] people would want to forgive” and live side by side in peace with Israelis, if they were promised the “just future” he believes the UK can help achieve.
Masri was at a May 2011 Nakba march – commemorating the mass displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war – at Maroun al-Ras, on the border of Lebanon and Israel, when soldiers opened fire.
