Portrait of Lord Balfour, along with his declaration. Via Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.This November, Palestinians and Israelis will be marking a short letter written one hundred years ago by the then British Foreign Secretary, Arthur Balfour. For many Israelis, this is a key moment to celebrate in the history of establishing the state of Israel; recognition and affirmation by a global power of the Zionist quest for a Jewish national home. For most Palestinians, it represents a moment of betrayal and devastation at the loss of the homeland they assumed would emerge with the defeat of the Ottoman Empire. For the cause of a just and viable peace, Balfour’s words have failed all.
The letter makes the following declaration of sympathy with Zionist aspirations:
“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.”
