The occupation of Palestinian land began 107 years ago today, in 1917.
The Balfour Declaration, issued by the British government on November 2, 1917, expressed support for the establishment of “a national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine. This declaration was conveyed through a letter written by then-Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Lord Lionel Walter Rothschild, a prominent figure in the British Jewish community.
The declaration states:
“His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”
This date represents the first official support for Zionist goals, ultimately leading, 30 years later, to the establishment of the State of Israel on occupied Palestinian land.
The Balfour Declaration played a significant role in shaping more than a century of ongoing war and chaos in the Middle East, culminating in the establishment of an Israeli state on Palestinian territory in 1948.
Today, the Balfour Declaration, in its outcomes, is seen as the foundation for the ongoing genocide, which in the past year alone has resulted in the death of more than 40,000 Palestinians, reflecting a failure to protect the historical and human rights of the Palestinian population in the region.
H/t @gazanotice
Mike