Balfour Declaration

What Balfour Declaration is:

There are many forms of colonial tyranny in Palestine, which we live in its consequences up till now. One of the biggest injustices upon Palestinians and the Palestinian cause is Balfour declaration which took place in November 2nd, 1917. Since then, this date has been a reminder for Palestinians of the promise of the British government via which its Foreign Minister left them with sorrow and suffering for their homeland.  

A Text of the Declaration:

“Foreign office,        

November 2nd, 1917

Dear Lord Rothschild,

        I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of his majesty's government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the cabinet.

        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 if Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.

     I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist federation. "

      This declaration was issued from the British government by Arthur James Balfour to the Lord Lionel Walter de Rothschild, which includes the British government's support for establishing a national home for Jews in Palestine, as Balfour was the spokesman and the Foreign Minister of the United Kingdom. The declaration was named after him. And it is described as "the Promise from the One Who doesn't own to the ones who are not Entitled."; as the British government did not own Palestine, it had control over it by force. And Jews who were gathered from countries all over the world didn’t have any connection to Palestine. 

The Reasons Behind the Declaration:

The declaration was a prize for the effort that Weizmann spent on helping the British government with the extraction of Acetone which was used in making military munitions during the World War I. this material was usually taken from wood, and there weren’t enough trees for that. Weizmann believed that the future depends on the victory of the allies in the World War ll, and in a few weeks he could extract acetone from other things than wood, like corn and other cereals. And by that he could solve the greatest problem the United Kingdom faced during the WWI. Weizmann refused all prizes and gifts for what he did, but rather asked for the British help with establishing a national home for Jews in Palestine.

After Balfour:

British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, declared once he took up his position that the United Kingdom will attract all Jews around the world to their side, and it was a way to annoy the Soviet Union. That resulted in many things, such as:

• Jews migrants kept heading to Palestine from all over the world, they came from Egypt, Yemen, Iraq, India, Russia, America, Europe and Ethiopia.

• The Jews who came to Palestine created a "religious" community represented  by "Israel".

•In 1948, there was a qualitative leap in the number of Jewish immigrants, rising to 650,000 after it was 50,000.

Attitudes of Balfour Declaration: 

The declaration was blessed by many colonial countries, and that is not odd due to their extending and colonial intentions, like:

• The US president Wilson agreed on it before publishing it.

• France and Italy officially agreed on it in 1918.

• Japan agreed on it in 1919.

• The allied control commission at San Remo Conference agreed on it, on the condition that Britain have mandate over Palestine.

• The Nations League agreed on the declaration and the mandate.

The Palestinian people refused the declaration and resisted it in all kind of ways, and made many revolutions, like 1929 Palestine riots, 1936-39 Palestinian revolt and many other heroic stands to resist this declaration which gave Zionists so many benefits that legitimacy for taking lands from Palestinians by force and kicking its native people out from it and killed their sons, which made this declaration the cornerstone for establishing the so called state of "Israel".

-Heba Wajeeh Dwekat

-Edits by: Bailasan Zainah