2 nov 2017
|
|
There is more than a little irony in Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to attend a “celebration” dinner this week in London with his British counterpart, Theresa May, marking the centenary of the Balfour Declaration.
Palestinian objections to the 1917 document are well-known. Britain’s Lord Balfour had no right to promise a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine, on the land of another people. But Israelis have been taught a different history in which they, not the Palestinians, were betrayed. In 1939, Britain appeared to revoke its pledge, stating “unequivocally” |
that it would not establish a Jewish state in Palestine. Limits on Jewish immigration were imposed, at a time when Europe’s Jews were fleeing the Nazi Holocaust.
It was for this reason that nearly a quarter of a century ago, in his book A Place Among the Nations, Netanyahu accused Britain of perfidy.
One can understand the reluctance of Israelis today to concede the pivotal role provided by Britain. The Balfour Declaration is an embarrassing reminder that a Jewish state was the fruit of a transparently colonial project.
In fact, Britain assisted the Zionists as best it could, given the need to weigh its imperial interests. Restrictions on immigration were introduced under the severe strain of a three-year armed uprising by Palestinians, determined to prevent their country being given away.
Historian Rashid Khalidi has noted that the Palestinian revolt of the late 1930s included possibly the longest-ever anti-colonial general strike. It posed such a threat that Britain committed thousands of extra soldiers to repress the insurgency, even as war loomed in Europe.
By the time Britain departed Palestine in 1948, it had overseen three decades in which the Zionists were allowed to develop the institutions of statehood: a government-in-waiting, the Jewish Agency; a proto-army in the Haganah; and a land and settlement division known as the Jewish National Fund.
By contrast, any signs of Palestinian nationalism, let alone nation-building, were ruthlessly crushed. By the end of the Arab revolt, less than a decade before the Palestinians would face a campaign of ethnic cleansing by the Zionists, Palestinian society lay in ruins.
Israel learnt two lessons from Britain that guided its subsequent struggle to quash Palestinian attempts at liberation.
First, Israel continued the draconian measures of British colonial rule. In the early 1950s, Menachem Begin, leader of the pre-state Irgun militia and a future Israeli prime minister, famously called Britain’s emergency regulations “Nazi laws”.
Nonetheless, they were incorporated into the military orders Israel uses against Palestinians under occupation. Significantly, the regulations are also still in force inside Israel against the country’s large minority of Palestinian citizens, one in five of the population. Israel has yet to end its seven-decade state of emergency.
The other lesson derives from the wording of the Balfour Declaration. It referred to the native Palestinians – then 90 per cent of Palestine’s inhabitants – as “existing non-Jewish communities”. It promised only to protect their “civil and religious rights”, denying them recognition as a nation deserving of political and social rights.
Israel followed suit. Palestinians in Israel were characterised as “the minorities”, or generic “Israeli Arabs”, rather than Palestinians. Israel’s perverse nationality laws assign them largely religious classifications as Druze, Arameans (Christians) and Arabs (increasingly synonymous with Muslims).
In occupied East Jersualem, Palestinians are denied all national and institutional representation. And in the West Bank, the powers of the Palestinian Authority – supposedly the Palestinians’ fledgling government – extend no further than acting as a security contractor for Israel and carrying out municipal services like garbage collection. In practice, the PA’s severely circumscribed authority is confined to a tiny fraction of the West Bank.
As a result, the Palestinians’ national ambitions have shrunk precipitously: from Yasser Arafat’s struggle for one secular democratic state in all Palestine, to today’s enclaves in Gaza and slivers of the West Bank.
Israel has consistently rejected for Palestinians the very self-determination it once demanded from the British.
Netanyahu’s government is preparing to nullify any lingering hopes of Palestinian statehood with the most significant move towards annexation of Palestinian territory in 40 years, when Jerusalem was annexed. The plan is to greatly expand Jerusalem’s boundaries to include large Jewish settlements in the West Bank like Maale Adumim.
In addition, Netanyahu has reportedly promised $230 million to build five highways in the West Bank, aiding movement between Israel and the settlements.
Is there an opposition? Avi Gabbay, new leader of the centre-left Zionist Union, sounds no different from the far-right. Last month he stated: “I believe all of the Land of Israel [historic Palestine] is ours.” No West Bank settlement would be evacuated, even for the sake of peace, he added.
Britain fulfilled its promise to the Zionists in full, but broke even its feeble commitment to the Palestinians to protect their civil and religious rights. An apology from Britain is long overdue, as are efforts to repair the damage it initiated 100 years ago.
– Jonathan Cook won the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.
It was for this reason that nearly a quarter of a century ago, in his book A Place Among the Nations, Netanyahu accused Britain of perfidy.
One can understand the reluctance of Israelis today to concede the pivotal role provided by Britain. The Balfour Declaration is an embarrassing reminder that a Jewish state was the fruit of a transparently colonial project.
In fact, Britain assisted the Zionists as best it could, given the need to weigh its imperial interests. Restrictions on immigration were introduced under the severe strain of a three-year armed uprising by Palestinians, determined to prevent their country being given away.
Historian Rashid Khalidi has noted that the Palestinian revolt of the late 1930s included possibly the longest-ever anti-colonial general strike. It posed such a threat that Britain committed thousands of extra soldiers to repress the insurgency, even as war loomed in Europe.
By the time Britain departed Palestine in 1948, it had overseen three decades in which the Zionists were allowed to develop the institutions of statehood: a government-in-waiting, the Jewish Agency; a proto-army in the Haganah; and a land and settlement division known as the Jewish National Fund.
By contrast, any signs of Palestinian nationalism, let alone nation-building, were ruthlessly crushed. By the end of the Arab revolt, less than a decade before the Palestinians would face a campaign of ethnic cleansing by the Zionists, Palestinian society lay in ruins.
Israel learnt two lessons from Britain that guided its subsequent struggle to quash Palestinian attempts at liberation.
First, Israel continued the draconian measures of British colonial rule. In the early 1950s, Menachem Begin, leader of the pre-state Irgun militia and a future Israeli prime minister, famously called Britain’s emergency regulations “Nazi laws”.
Nonetheless, they were incorporated into the military orders Israel uses against Palestinians under occupation. Significantly, the regulations are also still in force inside Israel against the country’s large minority of Palestinian citizens, one in five of the population. Israel has yet to end its seven-decade state of emergency.
The other lesson derives from the wording of the Balfour Declaration. It referred to the native Palestinians – then 90 per cent of Palestine’s inhabitants – as “existing non-Jewish communities”. It promised only to protect their “civil and religious rights”, denying them recognition as a nation deserving of political and social rights.
Israel followed suit. Palestinians in Israel were characterised as “the minorities”, or generic “Israeli Arabs”, rather than Palestinians. Israel’s perverse nationality laws assign them largely religious classifications as Druze, Arameans (Christians) and Arabs (increasingly synonymous with Muslims).
In occupied East Jersualem, Palestinians are denied all national and institutional representation. And in the West Bank, the powers of the Palestinian Authority – supposedly the Palestinians’ fledgling government – extend no further than acting as a security contractor for Israel and carrying out municipal services like garbage collection. In practice, the PA’s severely circumscribed authority is confined to a tiny fraction of the West Bank.
As a result, the Palestinians’ national ambitions have shrunk precipitously: from Yasser Arafat’s struggle for one secular democratic state in all Palestine, to today’s enclaves in Gaza and slivers of the West Bank.
Israel has consistently rejected for Palestinians the very self-determination it once demanded from the British.
Netanyahu’s government is preparing to nullify any lingering hopes of Palestinian statehood with the most significant move towards annexation of Palestinian territory in 40 years, when Jerusalem was annexed. The plan is to greatly expand Jerusalem’s boundaries to include large Jewish settlements in the West Bank like Maale Adumim.
In addition, Netanyahu has reportedly promised $230 million to build five highways in the West Bank, aiding movement between Israel and the settlements.
Is there an opposition? Avi Gabbay, new leader of the centre-left Zionist Union, sounds no different from the far-right. Last month he stated: “I believe all of the Land of Israel [historic Palestine] is ours.” No West Bank settlement would be evacuated, even for the sake of peace, he added.
Britain fulfilled its promise to the Zionists in full, but broke even its feeble commitment to the Palestinians to protect their civil and religious rights. An apology from Britain is long overdue, as are efforts to repair the damage it initiated 100 years ago.
– Jonathan Cook won the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.
Britain, in its official statements, expresses pride over playing a major role in issuing a declaration that led to the establishment of Israel on the ruins of Palestine.
The British Prime Minister, Teresa May, has justified this British role in her official statements, by adopting policies that support Israel diplomatically. She called for organizing a celebration on the 100th Anniversary of the Balfour Declaration and sent a special invitation to the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and other senior Israeli officials to attend.
Western racism has been manifested in the ominous Declaration which sought to build a national homeland for Jews in Palestine at the expense of an unarmed Palestinian people who have a prosperous civilization, history and heritage in the land of Palestine. This heritage refutes the fabrications of Max Nordau, the Zionist leader, who called for establishing a Jewish national home on “A land without a people for a people without a land!”
British racism
Dr. As'ad al-Aweiwi, a professor of Palestinian studies at the University of Hebron, stressed that Britain intended, by issuing the Balfour Declaration, to contribute actively to the establishment of a Jewish entity on the land of Palestine, and to help this entity stand on its feet without obstruction.
He added to the PIC reporter, “The Balfour Declaration stated in one of its articles that the rights of the Palestinians, whose percentage in historic Palestine was 92 percent of the population at the time of the Declaration, according to British statistics, should not be harmed. But it seems that British racism and blind hatred pushed it towards providing protection and support only for the Jews for the purpose of establishing a national homeland for them in Palestine, which included carrying out attacks against the Palestinian people and killing Palestinians, displacing and arresting them, with British approval and contribution. This is contrary to the text of the ominous Declaration that stated that no harm should be inflicted on the rights of the Palestinians and that Britain, the mandate power in Palestine, should not give up its responsibilities.”
He pointed out that Britain will not apologize to the Palestinian people for what it has done because it is a strategic ally of Israel. It was the mandate power in Palestine in accordance with a resolution of the League of Nations issued on July 24, 1922. This resolution called for helping the Palestinian people build their political institutions. But Britain did the very opposite by arresting Palestinians and providing all forms of support to the Jews for the purpose of establishing their own state.”
Zionist pressure
Mohammed Al-Tamimi, the former president of the British Council in the Palestinian territories, confirmed that Britain is under pressure from the Zionist lobby in the British political institutions.
Al-Tamimi said in a special interview with the PIC that this lobby has its presence in the British House of Commons, the Parliament and the House of Lords and many aspects of British political and foreign affairs. It affects Britain's foreign policy towards Israel positively, especially at the United Nation’s Security Council.
Arab silence
Hassan Kuraisha, the second deputy of the Palestinian Legislative Council speaker, criticized the Arab policies towards Britain, which contributed to supporting British arrogance against the Palestinian people and their legitimate political rights.
He told the PIC, “One hundred years of intimate Arab-British relations made Arabs neutral towards the Palestinian cause, acting as if they do not have any connection with it. They allowed, by their silence, the British government to be the supporter of the Israeli state; especially by taking no action after Britain repeatedly used its veto power at the UNSC to support Israel, at a time the Arabs refrained from punishing Britain or Israel at least diplomatically.”
He added, “The continued Arab and Muslim silence has contributed to raising the pace of the British bias. I fear that Britain will be also inviting a number of Arab leaders to attend the celebration of centennial anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, and I would not be surprised if some of them would actually attend.”
The British Prime Minister, Teresa May, has justified this British role in her official statements, by adopting policies that support Israel diplomatically. She called for organizing a celebration on the 100th Anniversary of the Balfour Declaration and sent a special invitation to the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and other senior Israeli officials to attend.
Western racism has been manifested in the ominous Declaration which sought to build a national homeland for Jews in Palestine at the expense of an unarmed Palestinian people who have a prosperous civilization, history and heritage in the land of Palestine. This heritage refutes the fabrications of Max Nordau, the Zionist leader, who called for establishing a Jewish national home on “A land without a people for a people without a land!”
British racism
Dr. As'ad al-Aweiwi, a professor of Palestinian studies at the University of Hebron, stressed that Britain intended, by issuing the Balfour Declaration, to contribute actively to the establishment of a Jewish entity on the land of Palestine, and to help this entity stand on its feet without obstruction.
He added to the PIC reporter, “The Balfour Declaration stated in one of its articles that the rights of the Palestinians, whose percentage in historic Palestine was 92 percent of the population at the time of the Declaration, according to British statistics, should not be harmed. But it seems that British racism and blind hatred pushed it towards providing protection and support only for the Jews for the purpose of establishing a national homeland for them in Palestine, which included carrying out attacks against the Palestinian people and killing Palestinians, displacing and arresting them, with British approval and contribution. This is contrary to the text of the ominous Declaration that stated that no harm should be inflicted on the rights of the Palestinians and that Britain, the mandate power in Palestine, should not give up its responsibilities.”
He pointed out that Britain will not apologize to the Palestinian people for what it has done because it is a strategic ally of Israel. It was the mandate power in Palestine in accordance with a resolution of the League of Nations issued on July 24, 1922. This resolution called for helping the Palestinian people build their political institutions. But Britain did the very opposite by arresting Palestinians and providing all forms of support to the Jews for the purpose of establishing their own state.”
Zionist pressure
Mohammed Al-Tamimi, the former president of the British Council in the Palestinian territories, confirmed that Britain is under pressure from the Zionist lobby in the British political institutions.
Al-Tamimi said in a special interview with the PIC that this lobby has its presence in the British House of Commons, the Parliament and the House of Lords and many aspects of British political and foreign affairs. It affects Britain's foreign policy towards Israel positively, especially at the United Nation’s Security Council.
Arab silence
Hassan Kuraisha, the second deputy of the Palestinian Legislative Council speaker, criticized the Arab policies towards Britain, which contributed to supporting British arrogance against the Palestinian people and their legitimate political rights.
He told the PIC, “One hundred years of intimate Arab-British relations made Arabs neutral towards the Palestinian cause, acting as if they do not have any connection with it. They allowed, by their silence, the British government to be the supporter of the Israeli state; especially by taking no action after Britain repeatedly used its veto power at the UNSC to support Israel, at a time the Arabs refrained from punishing Britain or Israel at least diplomatically.”
He added, “The continued Arab and Muslim silence has contributed to raising the pace of the British bias. I fear that Britain will be also inviting a number of Arab leaders to attend the celebration of centennial anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, and I would not be surprised if some of them would actually attend.”
The Turkish capital city of Ankara witnessed a protest demonstration on Thursday near the British Embassy on the 100th anniversary of Balfour Declaration which granted the Jewish people a homeland over Palestinian territories leading to the establishment of the entity of Israeli occupation.
Turkish citizens participated in the gathering that was held by Anadolu Youths Society. They carried the Palestinian flag along with anti-UK banners.
Head of the Society in Ankara Hassan Karaman said, during the event, that Israel is the biggest curse on humanity and Balfour is a shame on Britain.
Karaman called the UK to apologize to all humanity and Middle Eastern peoples, especially the Palestinian people for the unjust declaration.
Turkish citizens participated in the gathering that was held by Anadolu Youths Society. They carried the Palestinian flag along with anti-UK banners.
Head of the Society in Ankara Hassan Karaman said, during the event, that Israel is the biggest curse on humanity and Balfour is a shame on Britain.
Karaman called the UK to apologize to all humanity and Middle Eastern peoples, especially the Palestinian people for the unjust declaration.
Thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank cities took to the streets on Thursday to mark the 100th anniversary of the ill-famed Balfour Declaration.
Peaceful marches were held in each of Nablus, Ramallah, Jenin, Bethlehem, Tubas, al-Khalil and Jericho cities with the participation of scout teams. Meanwhile, working time was suspended in governmental institutions and a marathon for school students was staged under the theme “Balfour Rejection Marathon”.
Hundreds of the participants wore black uniforms and carried black banners besides the Palestinian flags and other posters condemning Balfour Declaration. In a letter addressed to the British Council in Ramallah, the protesters asked the UK to apologize for the unfair declaration.
Wasel Abu Yousef, member of Fatah Central Committee, told Anadolu agency during the march which kicked off in Ramallah that preparations are currently taking place to sue the UK at British and international courts.
Peaceful marches were held in each of Nablus, Ramallah, Jenin, Bethlehem, Tubas, al-Khalil and Jericho cities with the participation of scout teams. Meanwhile, working time was suspended in governmental institutions and a marathon for school students was staged under the theme “Balfour Rejection Marathon”.
Hundreds of the participants wore black uniforms and carried black banners besides the Palestinian flags and other posters condemning Balfour Declaration. In a letter addressed to the British Council in Ramallah, the protesters asked the UK to apologize for the unfair declaration.
Wasel Abu Yousef, member of Fatah Central Committee, told Anadolu agency during the march which kicked off in Ramallah that preparations are currently taking place to sue the UK at British and international courts.
The Balfour Declaration, which laid the foundation for the establishment of Israel in Palestine, created a century-long series of injustice towards Palestinian rights, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor has expressed in a statement on the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.
Euro-Med held Britain responsible for the violations that were linked to the fulfillment of the promise on the ground at a time when Palestine was under British Mandate.
The mandate position required Britain to manage its mandated nations in accordance with the interests of those nations’ residents; however, Great Britain was on the ground encouraging Jewish immigration to Palestine, bringing Jewish immigrants to the territories of an indigenous people, as well as selling government’s large tracts of land and supplying immigrants with weapons, according to the Euro-Med statement.
British foreign secretary, Arthur James Balfour, issued his famous promise in a letter written to a senior leader of the Jewish movement, Lord Rothschild, pledging that Britain is doing its utmost to establish a national homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine, without detracting the civil and religious rights of non-Jewish communities that were resident in Palestine.
On this occasion, the Euro-Med has called on Britain to stand by its responsibilities in recognizing the rights of the Palestinian people and to end the long-term Israeli military occupation of the Palestinian territories.
Euro-Med stresses that the Balfour declaration was a clear dismissal of the rights of the residents of Palestine at the time. Neither Palestinian opinion was taken into account nor their response to the promise details that would affect their lives and their right to self-determination.
The repercussions that followed the promise in terms of the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and the seizure of land, replaced with Israeli settlements instead stand as an ongoing issue as a result.
Britain became a mandate state in Palestine on April 25, 1920, and was entrusted by the League of Nations, which was comprised of victorious countries after the end of the First World War, to enforce the Balfour Declaration.
"This represents an inherent contradiction with international law and the Charter of the League of Nations itself on the mandate. Article 22 of the League of Nations which defines mandate as the interim administration by one of the major states over another unstable or politically immature country so that it can become independent after being guided by the advice and assistance of the mandating state," Euro-Med underlined.
The article also confirmed that the care of the temporary mandate must be compatible with the wishes of the people under the mandate, while, in fact, the promise clearly appeared to be contrary to the wishes of the Palestinian people and no referendum was held to know the Palestinians' position on the promise.
In addition, Euro-Med assures that Covenant of the League of Nations also stated that mandate subjects have the primary right to choose the mandating state. The King-Crane Commission, initiated by US president Wilson to verify the wishes of the Arab people in Palestine, showed that the majority of the Palestinians chose independence.
The report of the Commission stated at the time that "it must be recognized that the non-Jewish population of Palestine, who are nine tenths of the population, almost all reject the Zionist program categorically."
The Euro-Med stresses that the Balfour Declaration and its build-up, as well as its violation of the powers and concept of the mandate, included many legal irregularities.
Serious legal irregularities
The Euro-Med points out that Britain’s foreign minister had no jurisdiction over Palestine or any legal presence or connection with Palestine and therefore it could not impose its decisions outside the borders of its own country or on residents of another country.
The Zionist movement which adopted the idea of establishing a national homeland for the Jews in Palestine did not have a legal right to exist on the land at the time, and the promise included racial discrimination by describing the state as a "national homeland for the Jews" deliberately excluding the Muslim and Christian population who lived in Palestine at the time and who constituted the majority of the population.
Euro-Med stresses that the Balfour Declaration blatantly contradicts of the right to self-determination. Even with the British Mandate in Palestine, Britain did not have the right to dispose the territories under its mandate or impose its will against the will of the local population.
Ongoing responsibility
The Euro-Med confirms that the political climate which Britain created through the promise "caused a series of violations that the Palestinian people continue to suffer to this day."
These violations include Israel’s settlements in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, where successive Israeli governments have built and expanded settlements in the territories they occupy, bringing the total number of settlements to 237.
Israel has created in the occupied territories a discriminatory apartheid regime through its illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip since 2006, which has directly affected the lives of two million Palestinians the Gaza Strip, most of whom are refugees as a result of the Balfour Declaration.
Euro-Med also notes that the Balfour Declaration effectively established a long series of policies and procedures for displacement and expulsion of Palestinians from their lands. More than 800,000 of them have been imprisoned over the past years and most of them have been subjected to military trials lacking fair trial guarantees. Hundreds of Palestinians are subject to arbitrary detention or administrative detention each year on the basis of unpronounced evidence and without charge or trial.
Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor stresses that “Britain is primarily responsible for the consequences of its 1917 promise and the destructive consequences of the promise at the expense of the Palestinian people.”
Euro-Med also stresses that “Britain is responsible for facilitating the migration of Jews to Palestine and the displacement of the indigenous people, as well as the transfer of land and weapons to what was known as the Zionist gangs at the time.”
Euro-Med has called on Britain to recognize its mistake regarding the Balfour Declaration and to work on reinforcing and empowering the Palestinians' rights and compensate them for the massive harm the implications of the promise have made.
Euro-Med held Britain responsible for the violations that were linked to the fulfillment of the promise on the ground at a time when Palestine was under British Mandate.
The mandate position required Britain to manage its mandated nations in accordance with the interests of those nations’ residents; however, Great Britain was on the ground encouraging Jewish immigration to Palestine, bringing Jewish immigrants to the territories of an indigenous people, as well as selling government’s large tracts of land and supplying immigrants with weapons, according to the Euro-Med statement.
British foreign secretary, Arthur James Balfour, issued his famous promise in a letter written to a senior leader of the Jewish movement, Lord Rothschild, pledging that Britain is doing its utmost to establish a national homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine, without detracting the civil and religious rights of non-Jewish communities that were resident in Palestine.
On this occasion, the Euro-Med has called on Britain to stand by its responsibilities in recognizing the rights of the Palestinian people and to end the long-term Israeli military occupation of the Palestinian territories.
Euro-Med stresses that the Balfour declaration was a clear dismissal of the rights of the residents of Palestine at the time. Neither Palestinian opinion was taken into account nor their response to the promise details that would affect their lives and their right to self-determination.
The repercussions that followed the promise in terms of the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and the seizure of land, replaced with Israeli settlements instead stand as an ongoing issue as a result.
Britain became a mandate state in Palestine on April 25, 1920, and was entrusted by the League of Nations, which was comprised of victorious countries after the end of the First World War, to enforce the Balfour Declaration.
"This represents an inherent contradiction with international law and the Charter of the League of Nations itself on the mandate. Article 22 of the League of Nations which defines mandate as the interim administration by one of the major states over another unstable or politically immature country so that it can become independent after being guided by the advice and assistance of the mandating state," Euro-Med underlined.
The article also confirmed that the care of the temporary mandate must be compatible with the wishes of the people under the mandate, while, in fact, the promise clearly appeared to be contrary to the wishes of the Palestinian people and no referendum was held to know the Palestinians' position on the promise.
In addition, Euro-Med assures that Covenant of the League of Nations also stated that mandate subjects have the primary right to choose the mandating state. The King-Crane Commission, initiated by US president Wilson to verify the wishes of the Arab people in Palestine, showed that the majority of the Palestinians chose independence.
The report of the Commission stated at the time that "it must be recognized that the non-Jewish population of Palestine, who are nine tenths of the population, almost all reject the Zionist program categorically."
The Euro-Med stresses that the Balfour Declaration and its build-up, as well as its violation of the powers and concept of the mandate, included many legal irregularities.
Serious legal irregularities
The Euro-Med points out that Britain’s foreign minister had no jurisdiction over Palestine or any legal presence or connection with Palestine and therefore it could not impose its decisions outside the borders of its own country or on residents of another country.
The Zionist movement which adopted the idea of establishing a national homeland for the Jews in Palestine did not have a legal right to exist on the land at the time, and the promise included racial discrimination by describing the state as a "national homeland for the Jews" deliberately excluding the Muslim and Christian population who lived in Palestine at the time and who constituted the majority of the population.
Euro-Med stresses that the Balfour Declaration blatantly contradicts of the right to self-determination. Even with the British Mandate in Palestine, Britain did not have the right to dispose the territories under its mandate or impose its will against the will of the local population.
Ongoing responsibility
The Euro-Med confirms that the political climate which Britain created through the promise "caused a series of violations that the Palestinian people continue to suffer to this day."
These violations include Israel’s settlements in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, where successive Israeli governments have built and expanded settlements in the territories they occupy, bringing the total number of settlements to 237.
Israel has created in the occupied territories a discriminatory apartheid regime through its illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip since 2006, which has directly affected the lives of two million Palestinians the Gaza Strip, most of whom are refugees as a result of the Balfour Declaration.
Euro-Med also notes that the Balfour Declaration effectively established a long series of policies and procedures for displacement and expulsion of Palestinians from their lands. More than 800,000 of them have been imprisoned over the past years and most of them have been subjected to military trials lacking fair trial guarantees. Hundreds of Palestinians are subject to arbitrary detention or administrative detention each year on the basis of unpronounced evidence and without charge or trial.
Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor stresses that “Britain is primarily responsible for the consequences of its 1917 promise and the destructive consequences of the promise at the expense of the Palestinian people.”
Euro-Med also stresses that “Britain is responsible for facilitating the migration of Jews to Palestine and the displacement of the indigenous people, as well as the transfer of land and weapons to what was known as the Zionist gangs at the time.”
Euro-Med has called on Britain to recognize its mistake regarding the Balfour Declaration and to work on reinforcing and empowering the Palestinians' rights and compensate them for the massive harm the implications of the promise have made.
Head of Hamas’s refugee affairs department Isam Adwan has called for forming an international lobby group of legal, diplomatic and media teams throughout the world to work on forcing Britain to apologize to the Palestinian people and atone for its mistakes.
Adwan made his remarks at a conference staged on Wednesday by Hamas’s women sector on the 100th anniversary of the Balfour declaration that led to the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe).
The Hamas official expressed the readiness of Hamas’s refugee affairs department to be in the forefront of this international lobbying and called for establishing a special fund to support the participating teams and their extended activities.
He urged the organizers of the conference to delegate a committee to communicate with Palestinian figures from different spectra at home and abroad to work with them on crystallizing the idea of forming the lobby group.
Adwan made his remarks at a conference staged on Wednesday by Hamas’s women sector on the 100th anniversary of the Balfour declaration that led to the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe).
The Hamas official expressed the readiness of Hamas’s refugee affairs department to be in the forefront of this international lobbying and called for establishing a special fund to support the participating teams and their extended activities.
He urged the organizers of the conference to delegate a committee to communicate with Palestinian figures from different spectra at home and abroad to work with them on crystallizing the idea of forming the lobby group.
Refugees Affairs Office of Hamas Movement called for the establishment of an international committee in order to prosecute Britain legally and politically over the consequences of the Balfour declaration.
In a statement on the 100th anniversary of Balfour declaration, the Hamas Refugee Affairs Office held the UK and its government legally, politically and morally responsible for the repercussions of that promise on the Palestinian people over the past 100 years.
The statement stressed the importance of bringing those responsible for this Declaration to account in accordance with both humanitarian and criminal laws. Over 100,000 Palestinians were killed and thousands of others were displaced as a result of Balfour declaration, it highlighted.
In a statement on the 100th anniversary of Balfour declaration, the Hamas Refugee Affairs Office held the UK and its government legally, politically and morally responsible for the repercussions of that promise on the Palestinian people over the past 100 years.
The statement stressed the importance of bringing those responsible for this Declaration to account in accordance with both humanitarian and criminal laws. Over 100,000 Palestinians were killed and thousands of others were displaced as a result of Balfour declaration, it highlighted.
The UK’s House of Lords debated whether Hamas should remain a designated terrorist organization yesterday afternoon, with several prominent figures advocating for the issue to be reconsidered.
According to the Palestine Chronicle, a question raised by Lord Raymond Hylton, a cross bencher and peer who has met with Hamas officials in both besieged Gaza and the occupied West Bank, pointed out that in light of the reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, the situation of the group had changed significantly since it was first listed as a terror group.
“Would delisting not help all sides to be rather less intransigent than they have been up to now? Would it not build confidence among all Palestinians and help support their new Government of Unity?” he queried.
The request was once again echoed by Lord Frank Judd, who argued that a distinction should be made between the military and political wings of Hamas, Palestine Chronicle added.
“Is it not important to recognize in political terms that Hamas is a pluralist organization? Is it not vital to strengthen the more moderate elements within Hamas, particularly at this time of reconciliation between the PLO and Hamas?”
The issue of the recognition of Palestine was also briefly addressed, with Baroness Lindsey Northover, a Liberal Democrat politician, calling for the British Government to recognize the state of Palestine 100 years after the Balfour Declaration.
In an article published by The Sun daily on Wednesday, UK’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson reportedly refused to reveal whether or not Britain is holding secretive talks with Hamas.
During the final weeks of the election race, the Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn called for Hamas to be removed from Britain’s list of banned terror groups, according to the Telegraph.
As the centennial anniversary of the Balfour Declaration approaches this month, pro-Palestinian activists have asked Britain to apologize for its role in the creation of Israel, which led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. The request has been denied by senior British officials, and UK Prime Minister Theresa May has promised to celebrate the anniversary with pride.
According to the Palestine Chronicle, a question raised by Lord Raymond Hylton, a cross bencher and peer who has met with Hamas officials in both besieged Gaza and the occupied West Bank, pointed out that in light of the reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, the situation of the group had changed significantly since it was first listed as a terror group.
“Would delisting not help all sides to be rather less intransigent than they have been up to now? Would it not build confidence among all Palestinians and help support their new Government of Unity?” he queried.
The request was once again echoed by Lord Frank Judd, who argued that a distinction should be made between the military and political wings of Hamas, Palestine Chronicle added.
“Is it not important to recognize in political terms that Hamas is a pluralist organization? Is it not vital to strengthen the more moderate elements within Hamas, particularly at this time of reconciliation between the PLO and Hamas?”
The issue of the recognition of Palestine was also briefly addressed, with Baroness Lindsey Northover, a Liberal Democrat politician, calling for the British Government to recognize the state of Palestine 100 years after the Balfour Declaration.
In an article published by The Sun daily on Wednesday, UK’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson reportedly refused to reveal whether or not Britain is holding secretive talks with Hamas.
During the final weeks of the election race, the Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn called for Hamas to be removed from Britain’s list of banned terror groups, according to the Telegraph.
As the centennial anniversary of the Balfour Declaration approaches this month, pro-Palestinian activists have asked Britain to apologize for its role in the creation of Israel, which led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. The request has been denied by senior British officials, and UK Prime Minister Theresa May has promised to celebrate the anniversary with pride.
On the centenary of the Balfour Declaration the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) has launched its latest publication titled "Giving Away Other People’s Land, The Making of the Balfour Declaration".
The report provides an in-depth analysis of the motivations and dynamics that culminated in the creation of the Balfour Declaration.
With the 1917 Balfour Declaration, Palestine became the victim of European colonialism, as Britain promised to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine where the indigenous Palestinians amounted to over ninety percent of the total population.
The research is based primarily on archival documents from the National Archives in Kew Gardens, London. The report opens with objections to the Zionist project to settle in Palestine, strongly advocated by anti-Zionist British Jews.
Contrary to the mainstream view that Britain had benevolent motivations in drafting the Declaration, evidence in the archives proves that British government ministers used political Zionism to advance their own imperial ambitions.
The report also explores the accusation that the British ruling elite were anti-Semitic and thus driven by an age-long ambition to expel their Jewish communities.
The study also argues that both the British government and the Zionist movement used Orientalist ideology to justify the dispossession of Palestinians from their lands.
This publication is of relevance to academics, students, policy makers and activists interested in the history and politics of British imperialism, settler colonialism, Zionism, Israel and the question of Palestine.
The report provides an in-depth analysis of the motivations and dynamics that culminated in the creation of the Balfour Declaration.
With the 1917 Balfour Declaration, Palestine became the victim of European colonialism, as Britain promised to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine where the indigenous Palestinians amounted to over ninety percent of the total population.
The research is based primarily on archival documents from the National Archives in Kew Gardens, London. The report opens with objections to the Zionist project to settle in Palestine, strongly advocated by anti-Zionist British Jews.
Contrary to the mainstream view that Britain had benevolent motivations in drafting the Declaration, evidence in the archives proves that British government ministers used political Zionism to advance their own imperial ambitions.
The report also explores the accusation that the British ruling elite were anti-Semitic and thus driven by an age-long ambition to expel their Jewish communities.
The study also argues that both the British government and the Zionist movement used Orientalist ideology to justify the dispossession of Palestinians from their lands.
This publication is of relevance to academics, students, policy makers and activists interested in the history and politics of British imperialism, settler colonialism, Zionism, Israel and the question of Palestine.
