AMMAN — The centenary of the Balfour Declaration
this year coincides with exceptional circumstances in Palestine and amidst the
struggle of the Palestinian people to reclaim their land.
اضافة اعلان
Britain, the issuer of the original promise of
Jewish homeland on November 2, 1917, is in an exceptional situation. On the one
hand, there is public support for the Palestinian cause, expressed through
massive solidarity marches with the Palestinians, which were among the largest
in the world. On the other hand, there is a political decision providing
unconditional support to Israel, even rejecting a call for a ceasefire.
The Balfour Declaration, issued by the then
British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour, is the main starting point for the
Palestinian issue. It subsequently led to the Israeli occupation.
British academic Chris Doyle links the current
situation in Gaza to the Balfour Declaration, asserting that the current
situation cannot be separated from its historical context. He argues that
Britain bears historical responsibility for the ongoing situation in Palestine
due to its continued failure to find a just solution to the issue. He
criticizes the international community for not solving this problem but
stresses that London has the primary responsibility because it had the ability
to resolve the issue long before it became a primarily American one.
Britain
created Israel to export its “Jewish problem”
Regarding the reasons for Arthur Balfour
presenting this promise, Doyle explains that Balfour had no desire for Jews
from Eastern Europe to come to Britain. The presence of Jews in the country was
a significant issue, and he believed that this promise was the solution.
Balfour was against Semitism, believing that
the number of Jews in Britain should not increase, and he saw their growing
influence in America as a potential threat in his own country. He regarded this
promise, which sent Jews to a place outside of Europe, as a concept completely
against Semitism, according to Doyle.
Doyle expresses his regret that London, which
has a historical and political role in the Palestinian issue, has become
incapable of even calling for an immediate ceasefire, lifting the blockade,
releasing detainees, and providing humanitarian assistance.
Why
Palestine ?Afnan Al-Jabri, responsible for the
Postgraduate Studies Program for Refugees at the University of East London,
emphasizes that the Balfour Declaration alone did not have any legitimacy. It
was the League of Nations and part of the Zionist movement, which was divided
at the time, that granted it legitimacy. She believes that a part of the
Zionist movement believed that Jews should not be in one state, and there were
those who talked about Sudan, Ethiopia, or Uganda. Thus, the question is why
Palestine was chosen.
She answers this question with two reasons:
First, it was related to the religious narrative of part of the Zionist
movement. Second, it was linked to anti-Semitism because Britain and other
European countries wanted to get Jews out of Europe. She also points out that
London, having a historical and legal responsibility, granted the right to
determine the destiny of the native people to a colonial state without taking
the opinion of the Palestinians, who constituted 90% of Palestine's population
at the time.
This
article originally appeared in Al-Ghad newspaper
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