Paul Calvert caught up with Lord Reading, the head of diplomatic relations for Christians United for Israel.

Lord Reading with Paul Calvert

The Atlit Detention Camp held illegal immigrants who between the years 1934-1948, were transported from Europe and Arab countries to Israel's shores in spite of the British blockade. Many were survivors of the Holocaust. Once they arrived, they were detained in camps.

A special reconciliation event commemorating the events of the British Mandate period in Palestine/Eretz Israel was held at Atlit Detention Camp on 7th May and Paul Calvert caught up with Lord Reading, the head of diplomatic relations for Christians United for Israel.

Paul: Why are you here?

Lord Reading: I am here because, first of all, I haven't been to Atlit before and I wanted to see what the British did, in terms of abrogating on the Mandate and also the San Remo treaty. I want to see with my own eyes what happened here.

Paul: How pleased are you that the event has taken place today?

Lord Reading: I think that it is really important for us to understand the actual facts behind the stories and it seems to me that the British did treat the Jewish immigrants in a pretty disgraceful fashion.

Paul: Is it important to remember how the British treated the prisoners here?

Lord Reading: Yes it is important. The fact is that the initial Balfour Deceleration and San Remo treaty quite clearly said that there was to be no quota imposed on Jewish immigrants. Yet they imposed them and not only did they impose them, but they treated them almost like criminals. Some of these people were Holocaust survivors, who came here and it must have been unbelievably unnerving, with their expectations very high and those expectations must have been seriously dashed.

Lord and Lady Reading

Paul: We are here at the actual Atlit camp and in some ways it looks like a concentration camp. How did you feel going around?

Lord Reading: I would definitely not say it was a concentration camp. I would say quite clearly it's a detention camp. It was definitely detaining people here in very harsh circumstances, with no heating for example. I think they treated them pretty badly.

Paul: Would you like to see a response from the British Government to what happened?

Lord Reading: Yes. I think the most appropriate time would be 2017, because it gives two years to work on that. What I would like to see is some British representative of the British Government repent, because after all it's not all bad news from the history of Britain. Here it delivered the British Mandate, but then it abrogated on it and it abrogated on the San Remo treaty. What I would like to do is to have someone who would come clean from the Government and admit that they have done wrong. It is like an elephant in the room with relations between England and Israel, with this always being there. It has got to be dealt with in my opinion and I think the British Government have got to admit it instead of covering up.

Paul: Do you think that the Church acknowledging wrong doing is an important act in building bridges with the Jewish community?

Lord Reading: Definitely, yes. The Church definitely needs to get its act together on this. I was very heartened to hear what the Archbishop of Canterbury said earlier, (commenting on anti-Semitism), this morning. We need more of this leadership in the Church. There is too much replacement theology in the Church that needs to be exposed in my opinion.