The Controversial Declaration That Britain Doesn’t Want You To Know.
Over 100 Years: Palestinians Still Pay Their Balfour Declaration Bills.
During war world 1 1914–1918 the Balfour declaration born. This declaration has changed Palestinians’ lives since November 2, 1917, and till today.
After the war, the middle east was under Britain and France’s control. The declaration came with congrats from the USA, France, and Britain.
The declaration provides to establishing a Jewish state in Palestine, which Britain pledged to establish.
Pledge came as war. War called the Nakba — the war that left between 750,000 and one million refugees. Over 400 cities have destroyed by Israeli forces.
This declaration and the war that followed were among the most controversial in Arabs and World history.
What is the Balfour Declaration?
The Balfour Declaration (“Baflours promise” in Arabic) declared by
Britain in 1917 statement of British support for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.
The statement made in a letter from Arthur James Balfour British foreign secretary. To Lionel Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild (of Tring), leader of the British Jewish community.
The declaration came during World War 1, when the Middle East was under French and British control. After the Ottoman Empire. which let Britain mandated Palestine and Jordan.
The reason to mandate to give the new stats them independent.
But the situation and the reason for mandate Palestine was different,
because the British want to make stable and smooth conditions for
the establishment “national home for the Jewish people.”
The declaration helped to increase the number of Jews immigrated to Palestine.
In 1922 and 1935, the Jewish population increase to become over 25 percent of the total population.
The declaration specifically mentions: “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine.” The British mandate supports the Jews by giving them the equipment and the support to establish their country in Palestine. That was at the expense of the Palestinians rights.
Is Balfour Declaration legal
The debate about the legality of this declaration will never end.
The Veracity of this declaration This is a controversial topic, and
it is the main reason for the conflict happening in Palestine,
between Israel and the Palestinians.
Obviously, this wasn’t an international agreement. It’s a letter from
the British government to the Jewish leadership to create a country in Palestine.
The Declaration aimed at “enacting the laws which facilitated the Palestinian lands from their legitimate owners to the newcomers of Jews.” and “…the role of Britain in implementing the Balfour declaration and to carry out its role in full and creating the favorable conditions for the creation of the National homeland that was provided by the Balfour declaration.”
Why Was this Declaration a Turning Point in Palestine and the Arabs world?
When Britain promised to give freedom to the Arab countries from
Ottoman Empire in 1915. The British also promised the French that
Palestine would be under international administration and the rest of
the Arabs counties would split between France and Britain, that
was an agreement called Skyes-Picot agreement.
Over 100 years after announcing the declaration, the Arab citizens feel this form of foreign meddling permanently affected their lives. The declaration was the major transformation that Palestine and Palestinian would come under British control, also the Arabs countries would face another occupation which means the idea of freedom was unrealistic.
When British government announced Palestine as a “National home”
for Jewish people. That let Palestinians and Arabs feel that affected
by foreign meddling. Which left the door open to Jewish to create
stories about their rights in Palestine.
Janko Šćepanović said “It is thus unsurprising that 100 years after the policy was proclaimed, it arises some questions by historians, observers and most certainly citizens of Middle Eastern states who feel their lives were permanently affected by this form of foreign meddling.”
The Palestinians And Arabs Reaction
The Palestinians refused this declaration; they didn’t accept the idea
to share the others in their land. They know the intention of this
declaration is to pave to another occupation to Palestine.
That required a massive movement in Palestine and Arab world to stop this declaration.
According to Narrative “in the wake of the Balfour Declaration, when Palestinian leaders and activists organised popular protests against the pro-Zionist policy of the new British rulers of the land. In 1920 and 1921, these protests, especially in urban centres such as Jerusalem and Jaffa, turned violent as a result of either Zionist provocation, as in the case of Jerusalem in April 1920, or a Palestinian rage directed towards Jewish areas, as occurred in Jaffa in May 1921.”
The Jewish agency and places the country in political, economic,
and social conditions make it more suitable for establishment
of the national homeland only for the Jews.
Which let Palestine country for one group and Palestinians will not have
the same thing like the Jews.
The Balfour declaration and Britain creating favorable conditions
to create this “homeland” for Jews on the Palestinians land.
The Balfour declaration paved the road for the hardest ethnic cleansing of Palestine history in 1948.
