Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki has voiced support for the notion of legally challenging the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which paved the way for the creation of Israel in 1948.
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Al-Maliki’s announcement came in Mauritania on Monday, at the annual meeting of the Arab League, where Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman were absent.
Signed by British Foreign Secretary Lord Arthur James Balfour in 1917, the declaration was seen as giving the Zionist movement official recognition and backing on the part of a major power, on the eve of the British conquest of the then-Ottoman territory of Palestine.
The historic document, which recommended the creation of a “national home for the Jewish people”, prompted the eventual establishment of Israel in 1948.
Despite the declaration stating “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine”, the support provided by Britain for the establishment of Israel has always been a source of grievance for Palestinians.
The Palestinian Authority urged Arab countries to “help us bring a suit against the British government over the ominous Balfour Declaration which resulted in the Nakba (catastrophe) for the Palestinian people”.
It is not clear what concrete results the calls are expected to yield, but since the Palestinians joined the International Criminal Court in 2015 they have called for various historical investigations, including into Israel’s alleged war crimes during the 2014 Gaza war.
“Palestinian leaders haven’t been interested in peace for some time already”, Mr Erdan was quoted as saying by Israel’s Haaretz newspaper.
“The only goal is to delegitimise Israel. Don’t be surprised if the next phase will be an expansion of the Palestinian claim against Britain, and France as well since they were also partners in the Sykes-Picot agreement that divided control in our region….Everything is kosher in [Abbas’] path of lies and incitement”.
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The incident led to a Palestinian diaspora, with Palestinian refugees now scattered across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and other countries.
