Palestinian leaders have vowed to sue the British Government after it refused to apologise for a 1917 declaration that paved the way for the creation of Israel.
So now the jihadist rulers of the Palestinian territories are planning to tie up Britain in lawfare over the existence of the State of Israel. How brazenly absurd.
Immediately after the birth of the Jewish state in 1948, the surrounding Islamic states tried and failed to destroy it. They tried again in 1967 and lost in the Six Day War, and again in 1973 in the Yom Kippur war and once again failed; all these defeats were a blow to jihadist pride. It’s those jihad wars, which were intended to obliterate Israel, that caused the so-called “mass displacement” of Palestinians.
The goal of destroying the Jewish State of Israel remains in the jihadist Palestinian Authority, Fatah and Hamas Charters; jihad attacks on innocent Israeli citizens are ongoing, and Abbas envisions a future Palestinian state with “not a single Israeli” living in it. The Palestinian leadership seeks a one-state solution, which would involve the deaths of millions of Israelis, while the world fantasizes about a two-state one.
“UK refuses to apologise to Palestinians for Balfour Declaration and says it is ‘proud of role in creating Israel'”, by Lizzie Dearden, UK Independent, April 26, 2017:
Palestinian leaders have vowed to sue the British Government after it refused to apologise for a 1917 declaration that paved the way for the creation of Israel.
Mahmoud Abbas had called for an apology in his address to the UN General Assembly in September, ahead of planned celebrations by British and Israeli officials to mark the centenary of the Balfour Declaration.
More than 13,500 people signed a petition calling for the Government to “openly apologise to the Palestinian people” over the letter, saying the UK’s colonial policy caused “mass displacement” and injustice.
The number of signatures failed to pass the benchmark for a parliamentary debate but the Government issued a formal response.
“The Balfour Declaration is an historic statement for which HMG does not intend to apologise,” it said.
“We are proud of our role in creating the State of Israel. The task now is to encourage moves towards peace.”
A spokesperson said the Declaration was written in a world of “competing imperial powers” as the First World War raged and Ottoman Empire diminished, adding: “In that context, establishing a homeland for the Jewish people in the land to which they had such strong historical and religious ties was the right and moral thing to do, particularly against the background of centuries of persecution.
“Of course, a full assessment of the Declaration and what followed from it can only be made by historians.”
The Government’s statement accepted that the Declaration “should have called for the protection of political rights of the non-Jewish communities in Palestine, particularly their right to self-determination” but said that lasting peace must now be established through a two-state solution.
It called for a “viable and sovereign Palestinian state” based on the 1967 borders complete with agreed land swaps, Jerusalem as the shared capital of both states, and an agreed settlement for refugees.
Manuel Hassassian, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, said the response meant “the Queen and the Government of Britain will not apologise to the Palestinian people” and planned centenary events would go ahead.
He said that unless the position was reversed and the UK formally recognised the state of Palestine, a lawsuit would be pursued.
“This is the only condition upon which we can close this file permanently,” he told Voice of Palestine Radio on Tuesday.
The Balfour Declaration was a letter sent on 2 November 1917 from British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Lionel Walter Rothschild, a leader of the British Jewish Community.
It said the government of the time favoured the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people in Palestine”, as long as “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine”.
The text was read as support for the Zionist movement and was later incorporated into a peace treaty with the Ottoman Empire and the British Mandate for Palestine, despite contradicting other agreements.
Palestinians have long condemned the document as a promise by Britain to hand over land that it did not own.
Israel declared independence in 1948 after the British Mandate expired and won the subsequent Arab-Israeli War, prompting significant demographic change in the region and exodus of more than 700,000 Palestinians.
Israel later captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 war, along with the Gaza Strip that is now controlled by the Hamas Islamist group.
The last round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed in 2014, while the past year has seen an upsurge in violence seeing Israelis killed in stabbings and car attacks and more than 280 Palestinians – mostly attackers – killed by Israeli security forces.
There has also been an increase in tensions over the construction of Jewish settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories that are regarded as illegal under international law.
Theresa May has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to attend events commemorating the Balfour Declaration in November. Other commemorations are expected to take place in Israel during the year.
A spokesperson for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office told The Independent that it recognises “sensitivities” over the declaration and subsequent events in the Middle East, but that “the UK Government will be marking the centenary in an appropriate and balanced manner”.
“Our focus remains on encouraging the Israelis and Palestinians to take steps which bring them closer to peace,” he added.
“We continue to support the principle of a Jewish homeland and the modern state of Israel….
Guy B says
Perhaps the UK should cut off the £25 million-a-year aid payments while the lawsuit is being tried.
JIMJFOX says
UK should tell the terrorists of the PA, Hamas & others that a PALEXIT is the only solution.
Bravo to Britain for telling Abu Mazen & his murder crew to get stuffed.
Godwin says
Most important point to note is that in 1917 There was no Palestine state nor Palestinians. They were all citizens of Jordan n some Egypt. Arafat was burn in Egypt. .
john spielman says
YUP! and muslims/ islam should apologize for 1400 YEARS of mass slaughter of 50- 200 millions unbelievers, and the oppression of millions more in forced dhimmitude / slavery by these islamic savages! For reparations, we demand all mosques in the west be closed and the land forfeited, and any and all sharia loving muslims be deported
maghan says
Plus Arabs burst forth from Arabia in the 7th century to pillage, plunder, murder and rape all of West Asia–replacing religions and languages with Islam and Arabic. It was a classical exercise in Arab military and cultural imperialism.
West Asia should be decolonized from Arab settler colonialism in much the same way that Algeria was liberated from French settler colonialism. Israel has started the ball rolling–in the grand tradition of El Cid of Spain who drove the Muslims from Spain in a protracted anti-colonial war.
Graham says
Amen!
Leon says
Perhaps the US should cut off all the aid too…
gravenimage says
Exactly.
David, Thailand says
No way, we’re way too civilised for that.
Lia Wissing says
Brilliant idea!
carpediadem says
Just what I was thinking, in terms of “Gee, how will the Palis pay for the lawsuit? With UK terror funding?” 😉
Lizzie Dearden, like so many, forgets that Israel took BACK the stolen territories of Judea, Samaria, East Jerusalem.
(I always forget if they took back Gaza too.) In any case, it was a RECAPTURE, not a capture.
BC says
Knowing of course that any suit will be dealt with at the expense of the UK tax payer
Spike1033 says
Perhaps the British government should sue the Palestinians for 1400 years of lies and murder of innocent people. Then maybe they should also be sued for the murder last week of the British student in Jerusalem. Not forgetting that Israel is the only democratic state in the middle east. It’s also the only ME state where ordinary Arabs have a democratic voice in a parliament.
Petey says
and move the embassy to Jerusalem! That will send a powerful message
Stan Lee says
Abbas is “blowing smoke!” At least he has a wild imagination, because it’s his neck on the line if he cannot keep bluffing Palestinians in order that they continue to accept that they are being screwed. He has to keep goading Palis to terrorism in order that they stay indoctrinated against no other proposition but Israel’s total destruction. That’s what Palis want, a blood bath for Israelis. Abbas keeps his lucrative political position, just as Arafat before him, as long as the Palis can be kept mad as all hell against Israelis.
After all, how many times have the Palis and Israel started a peaceful negotiation that was inflamed by Pali leaders who really would only settle by getting Israel entirely from the Mediterranean Sea to Jordan River?
In the interim of all the Arab chaos he caused, Arafat died a multi-millionaire, and Abbas will come away with as much or more by compromising hate-blinded Palestinians. It is amazing that the Palis still believe him, but that’s the way it is….and a reason why no other Arab country wants Palestinians settling in their countries.
Charli Main says
It was the invasion of Muslims from Saudi Arabia that caused the MASS DISPLACEMENT OF THE TRUE INDIGENIOUS PEOPLE OF PALESTINE.
If the descendants of these Muslim invaders want land they should xxxx off back to Saudi Arabia where they came from.
mortimer says
In 1850, there were a total number of 200,000 people residing in Palestine (source: Palestine Land of Promise 1944). The number includes Jews, Christians, travelling nomadic Bedouins and settled Muslims, a total of just over 100,000 Arabs in the region.
Substantial immigration of Arab migrant workers into what is now called ‘Western Palestine’ from 1880-1948 occurred, due to the expansion of Jewish businesses in the Ottoman districts called the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem, the Sanjak of Nablus and Sanjak of Acre, the region that was commonly referred to as “Southern Syria” and then became the British Mandate under the League of Nations.
There are NO RECORDS to support the narrative of a separate, distinct Palestinian people. In history, art and literature there is no trace at all of any Muslim people referred to by anybody as “Palestinians.”
From the mid 19th to the mid-20th century, Jewish settlement and the resulting employment opportunities drew successive waves of Arab migrants to Palestine. “The Arab population shows a remarkable increase ….. partly due to the import of Jewish capital into Palestine and other factors associated with the growth of the [Jewish] National Home..” (The Peel Commission Report – 1937).
British PM Winston Churchill said in 1939: “.. far from being persecuted, the Arabs have crowded into the country [Palestine Mandate]..”
Before the Six Day War in 1967, when Jordan controlled the West Bank and Egypt ruled in Gaza, there was NEVER any suggestion on the part of the “Palestinians” that they wanted independence in their ancestral homeland. The reason was that the “Palestinian” nation hadn’t been invented yet. They were simply JORDANIANS or EGYPTIANS holding those passports. If anything, there was a pan-Arab feeling during the time.
The ‘Palestinian’ flag is merely the Jordanian flag with the royal star removed. There’s your first clue.
Charli Main says
The Word ” Palestina ” or” Filastina” does not appear ANYWHERE in the Koran.
Before the Muslim invasion of Roman Palaestina, in 636 AD, displaced the INDIGENOUS population, there were no Arabs in the region.
These Muslims calling themselves ” Palestinians” are nothing more than the descendants of the original invaders from Saudi Arabia.
Hugh Fitzgerald says
Palestine: Land of Promise, which you cite, is a very good book, by the agronomist Walter Clay Lowdermilk, and deserves to be better known. It gives some idea of the fantastic achievements in land reclamation by the Zionist pioneers who when they arrived faced only the “desolation and waste” that Mark Twain described, which was the result of centuries of Arab Muslim indifference.
Baucent says
Travelers in the “Holy Land” during the 19th Century described the it as being thinly populated, but with an abundance of mosquitoes, swamps and malaria. The Jews drained the swamps, eliminated malaria (a scourge since Biblical times) and developed and irrigated the land.
carpediadem says
Thanks for the recommendation, Hugh.
I found it online and downloaded it. It’s on my list.
gravenimage says
Excellent points, Mortimer, Charli, and Hugh–few Muslims cared anything about that stretch of the Levant for hundreds of years–certainly, it had been neglected by the Ottoman Empire.
It was only when Jews began returning to the area and developing it that Muslims “discovered” how important it was to Islam.
Baucent says
“Before the Six Day War in 1967, when Jordan controlled the West Bank and Egypt ruled in Gaza, there was NEVER any suggestion on the part of the “Palestinians” that they wanted independence in their ancestral homeland.”
An excellent point that the shallow media never think of. Furthermore,the fact that the “Palestinian” flag and the flag of Jordan are identical, tell us that these Arabs are Jordanians.
In the 1970’s the media rarely mentioned the word “Palestinian”. It was always the “Arab/Israeli conflict”. Now these same people have changed their nationality and ethnicity. All a bogus invention of Arafat and the PLO.
Graham says
Thanks for that Mortimer!
Diane Harvey says
Sure, as soon as you apologize for 270 MM deaths over 1400 years, plus trillions in wealth stolen and property destroyed.
Waiting, . . .
gravenimage says
Spot on.
Mobuyus says
This could be a nascent industry for palis by suing every one alive for not helping them murder the Jews.
Karen says
“Palestinian leaders have vowed to sue the British Government after it refused to apologise….”
Speaking of fake news…… And what are the grounds for suing for want of an apology? That the plaintiff, Mr. Abbas, has gotten his knickers in a twist?
Much praise to the UK government for standing by this document. I’m no expert in the document’s language, but what I read here sounds very balanced. While we all acknowledge that errors were probably made, the intentions were good, and the British have always been honorable in their intentions and agreements, and attempts to right the wrongs that were made along the way.
mortimer says
The promise of creating a homeland for the family of Hashemite Royal Family was indeed kept.
carpediadem says
Yes, by stealing land from the Jews they were entrusted to hand the Mandate over for Israel. Instead the British handed it to the Hashemites, handed Jewish weapons to the Arabs and sat back and waited and wondered why the massacre of the Jews by Arabs they trained and helped didn’t occur.
Charli Main says
100% correct. The Arabs living in Jordan are NOT the indigenous people of the area but the descendants of MUSIM INVADERS from Saudi Arabia.
Tony says
The Palestinians should get on with their lives and forget trying to thrown Israel into the sea. The dirty Palestinians who are Moslems should go to Saudi Arabia whether the Saudis like it or not. All Moslems should be required to live in Saudi Arabia only.
mortimer says
If they hadn’t wasted their HUGE relief monies on making warfare, every single Pally could be a MULTI-MILLIONAIRE.
bipedant says
Or more likely the inherently corrupt pally overlords would be even more cashed up while average Joe pally gets ripped off by his superiors.
Ya gotta love those guys.
somehistory says
Doing all they can do to stir up trouble. Trouble is their middle name…first, last and nickname.
satanic beast…enemy of Israel, Christians and everything good and virtuous.
islam is a wild best that will soon be completely destroyed.
Irene Brekelmans says
Abbas, all of a sudden you feel strong? If we have to get you and all arabs in court for everything you Muslims have done, there will be no end to court cases. Where did Arafat get all his millions from. Could it be from all the money that the USA and European countries gave to Palestine FOR THE PEOPLE, to have better lives and were did those countries get the money from, right Mr Abbas, from us, the taxpayers.
You will loose that court case. You are blowing smoke
mortimer says
Agree. He will lose and the Israelis will have a GOLDEN opportunity to debunk the unhistorical claims of the Pallies before the world. The loss of face for the Pallies will be catastrophic. Hurrah! Bring on the Jewish lawyers. I can’t wait!
(Abbas is a complete BOZO… he is RUNNING into the trap and it will kill this fake narrative forever.)
pat mott says
As soon as they reach high numbers they become bullies
miriamrove says
He is full of it to say the least. m
mortimer says
… yes… and … they have no case. They merely have a claim. (I personally claim possession of the MOON!)
Milad Meah says
Palestinian leaders vow to sue UK government WITH the money they gave them as aid to feed the terrorists who kill Israelis.
ElderlyZionist says
No chit. Pathologically delusional, and not interested in getting well. This is why you can’t have nice things, Habib.
gravenimage says
All true, Milad.
Infidel Lass says
Well it’s certainly going to be interesting watching the UN in the middle, wringing it’s hands over what to do: go against the UK, a still powerful nation despite it’s decline (that they’re coming back from thanks to Brexit), or go against their darling Palestine at risk of provoking wars between nations? Trump will stand by Israel and the UK. So will Eastern European nations and many countries of the Commonwealth. Is the UN ready to defend it’s pet Pali project at all costs? Time for the UN to officially show the world it’s true colours.
Leon says
Hey Abu Abbass – you are just a big @ss
There will NEVER be another terrorist Arab state near Israel…
People living in the West Bank are Arabs that started calling themselves Palestinians as they are other or different nation or ethnicity than Jordanians…
Islam the religion of killers says
Keep them arguing arguing arguing with govt lawyers, they’ll get sick of paying the bills
Siddi Nasrani says
” If my memory serves me correctly the name Palestine ( Filistin in Hebrew means
invader or enemy )
Mark Swan says
Though the definite origins of the word “Palestine” have been debated for years and are still not known for sure, the name is believed to be derived from the Egyptian and Hebrew word peleshet. Roughly translated to mean “rolling” or “migratory,” the term was used to describe the inhabitants of the land to the northeast of Egypt – the Philistines. The Philistines were an Aegean people – more closely related to the Greeks and with No Connection Ethnically, Linguistically or Historically with Arabia.
A derivative of the name “Palestine” first appears in Greek literature in the 5th Century BCE when the historian Herodotus called the area “Palaistinē” In the 2nd century CE, the Romans crushed the Jewish revolt against Roman rule (132 CE), during which Jerusalem and Judea were regained by the Romans and the area of Judea was renamed Palaestina in an attempt by Rome to minimize Jewish identification with the land of Israel.
The PLO seems to be the ones to have made the name Palestinian stick on These People…which are mainly in Jordan and in Israel…there are very many of them who will Never Accept Being Good Settled Citizens…It seems to be the Palestinian Way…and just like all the humans on this planet…they will see themselves right and the others wrong…The Nation of Israel has not taken anything from These People…Israel instead Wants Things These people Don’t Want…National Organized Law and Rule by a Democratic People…National Boundaries and the right to live within them…To Prosper Through Hard Work Which Allows Anyone Participating in It to Grow and move on with Their Own Lives…and last but not least Israel just will not be Palestinian…how dare them…Jews!
Arabs who desire to control the Temple Mount in Jerusalem often deny that Israelite presence there predates Muslim presence that first appears about 700 AD…Yet…recent archaeological evidence counters the Arab claim…A 10-year-old Russian boy…recently made an extraordinary discovery in Jerusalem…Working as a volunteer in the Temple Mount Sifting Project…he found a 3,000-year-old seal…engraved limestone about the size of a thimble…with a hole at one end so it could be hung from a string…from the time of the kings of Israel [about 1000 BC]…The artifact was nestled in the hundreds of tons of earth and rock that had been illegally excavated from below the Temple Mount in the late 1990s by the Muslim Waqf… the seal confirms the ancient Jewish presence in Jerusalem—more than a millennium before the Muslim Dome of the Rock was built.
gravenimage says
True, Mark. And before 1967 “Palestine” was used to describe “Jewish” Israel.
The term “next year in Palestine!” was quite common.
Local Muslims co-opted the word.
Mark Swan says
Yes indeed gravenimage, these Muslims, big on co-opting, they surely are.
Baucent says
That’s quite correct. In the 1920’s visitors would have noticed that the local Jews used “Palestine” in the name of business and even sporting teams. The word was never solely associated with Arabs.
Rob says
Most ‘Palestinians’ arrived in the British Mandate after 1920 and certainly after the Declaration in 1917.
They came for the work opportunities afforded by the developing Jewish economy made possible by the Jewish hydro developments on the Jordan.
Also conveniently forgotten is that the first beneficiary (mid 1920s) of the Mandate was Trans Jordan not Israel. Jordan is 4x the size of present day Israel.
No Fear says
HAMAS Interior Minister: “Allah be praised, we all have Arab roots, and every Palestinian in Gaza and throughout Palestine, can prove his Arab roots, whether from Saudi Arabia or from Yemen or anywhere.”
https://w w w.youtube.c o m/watch?v=Bd3tA_dAl-A
Andrew Swallow says
As a rule of thumb only saints should sue.
The British Government should investigate the Palestinians for War Crimes. I suspect that they will find a long list for which the Palestinian leadership can be prosecuted.
Guy Jones says
When will Muslims apologize to the world for the ideology of “Submission” and its 1,400-year litany of conquests, atrocities, barbarism and sadism?
gravenimage says
Palestinian leaders vow to sue UK government after it refuses to apologize for Balfour Declaration
………………
Lawfare…
commonsense says
This action on the part of the “Palestinian” leadership underscores both the folly and futility of any further attempts at peace talks on the part of the Israelis. But Abbas and company, if they were wise, should defer their threatened lawsuit against Britain, and play the long game. In a generation or two, unless drastic action is taken, Britain will be Islamic, at which time such a lawsuit will be unnecessary, as Britain will, of its own accord, declare the Balfour Declaration to be abrogated.
Robert says
I am not always i agreement wiith the current Israeli government policies but: The Palestinian conflict is mainly self-inflicted. The Unites Arab world lost two supprise wars (“Biltzkrieg”) against this tiny country called Israel. They displayed half a million Palestinians but these Arab states claim everybody else except themselves: “blame the other…..” And thos palestinians who fled to typical Muslim countries like Dubai and Qatar were always treated as second (third ) class people who did not even get a passsport after 5 years living in Dubai or other Gulf States. Many of them are still stateless.
Peter Boardman (Peter the Hermit) says
Statute of limitations, anyone?
Laura says
I can see British law firms drooling at the mouth in their eagerness to act for the ‘Palestinians.’
Charli Main says
All paid for by the BRITISH TAXPAYER of course.!!!!!!
Frank Verderber says
The Balfour Declaration is ironic. That it recognized the Jewish people and thier original habitation was profound and needed. However the British Elite are a very insideous and penny pinching bunch. The wanted to kill two birds with one stone: provide a sanctuary (very laudable) but they also wanted Jewish money and know how to develop a depressed M.E. They thought, oh how ecpedient we can develop a prosperous dominion for the crown, our banks, our coffers, our gravitas. Hippocrites – your chickens have come home to roost. You should not have let your left hand know what your right hand had done. You used the corban of God to fill your pockets. Now your children of iniquity will have you for lunch. Oh whore who says, “who can see me. I am hidden from the world” – all eyes will see and ears hear what you have been up to.
P.V.Ravi Chandran says
Quite rightly so!
ibrahim itace Muhammed says
christen williams,with your little knowledge of antient history you must know that land where present day evil state of israel exist from 1948 had been known as palestine or land of caanites before Abraham(the grandfather of jacob or israel)foreparents settled there when they migrated from Babelon and they stayed with palestinians.when joseph took the children of israel to Egypt they left palestinians there.when moses brought back the israelites they met palestinians there.when Byzantine Romans expelled the israelites from the land theft palestinians there.when muslims conquered the land and drove away Roman invaders and allowed israelites to come they met palestinians there and they had been living together.then why there should be a separate nation known as israel in palestine.does that phrase in the evil bible “promised land”mean that your mithraist god seized the land from palestinians and gave it to israelites?is there any sense of justice there from the side of your god?No ,true and just God will never do that.the so_called “promised land”is a myth and production of biased human mind,a lie.But British invaders perfected this lie that rise to the creation of fake state of israel on palestinian land.But muslims are not objecting for jews to stay on the land like any other race as it had been since the time of father Abraham.But the land shall never be known as israeli nation,which never existed before.
Baucent says
You live in a fantasy world Ibraham. There is not a shred of historical evidence, or mention of “Palestine” before the second century after Christ. Certainly nothing from the time of the canaanites. Name one historical document that mentions “Palestinians” before 200AD. There are none. I think you are confused with the Philistines but they weren’t Arabs either. As we know the Palestinians all claim Arab heritage, from Saudi Arabia, Yemen etc. You need to read some history textbooks not produced at a muslim university to get some truth into your head.
ibrahim itace Muhammed says
Baucent ,can you prove to me with cogent and irrefutable archeological evidence as to from which location in yemen or saudi Arabia or any part of Arabia the palestinians came ?you are the one relying on lies and fantasy concocted by evil Jews to justify their false claim over the land.it appears to me that you are not conversant of anthropological background of communities living in the midleast.The present day Arabs consist of pure Arabs from Arabian penensula and other ethnic groups like Assyrian,palestinians,Egyptians and some jews who adopted Arab identity and are now regarded as pure Arabs.palestinians never migrated from Arabian peninsula.they had been on present day land in dispute from time immemorial and even Abraham’s ancestors met them there not talk israel the grandson of Abraham.i am not talking of philisten in your evil bible.All historians refered to this land as palestine,not israel.
ShandyLover says
Really can’t see what the Palestinians are bitching about. During the inter-war years they were offered a two-state solution to Palestine. After all, the Jews were there long, long, long before islam was a figment of a deranged so-called prophet’s mind.
They refused the solution. The muzzies would have everything or nothing. Reduced to begging Hitler for favours, they even suggesting the idea of the Holocaust to him. If the muzzies of Palestine had had their way, no Jew would have ever set foot there again.
http://vridar.org/2015/10/22/what-the-grand-mufti-and-hitler-talked-about-november-28-1941/
Chose the wrong side there muzzies, didn’t you. Now they have almost nothing. An unviable state exporting terrorism to the world, and that ONLY because Israel was persuaded to trade land for peace. The land was taken but there has been precious little peace in return.
Why should the rest of us apologize to the muzzies for their own mistakes?