Palestinians Planning Lawsuit Against Britain for 1917 Balfour Declaration
The Palestinians have asked the Arab League for support in filing a lawsuit against the British Government for publishing the Balfour Declaration in 1917.
Speaking on behalf of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the Arab League's annual summit, the PA's Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki asked the summit 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.”
The Balfour Declaration was conveyed in a letter addressed by Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Lord Walter Rothschild, a prominent member of the British Jewish community. In the letter, Balfour proclaimed that Britain would support Zionist aspirations by facilitating in Palestine the establishment of “a national home for the Jewish people.”
By declaring Britain to be Zionism's patron, Balfour's signature completed a process begun twenty years earlier at the First Zionist Congress, held in 1897 in Basel, Switzerland. The Balfour Declaration led the League of Nations to entrust the United Kingdom with the Palestine Mandate in 1922.
Malki continued to say that all the Israeli "crimes" committed since the end of the British mandate in 1948 fall under the UK's responsibility.
Israel declared independence on May 14, 1948, a day before the British mandate was set to expire.
While the summit was convened the Arab League again urged the international community to force Israel to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, and voiced it's support for the French peace initiative.
While Israel had voluntarily agreed to follow regulations put in place by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has never joined the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, keeping facilities off-limits to outside inspectors.
Though Israel has never publicly confirmed the existence of its nuclear program, maintaining an official policy of "nuclear ambiguity," it is widely assumed that the Nuclear Research Center in the southern town of Dimona contains Israel's nuclear arsenal, which is currently estimated to number around 300 warheads.
Malki continued to say that all the Israeli "crimes" committed since the end of the British mandate in 1948 fall under the UK's responsibility.
Rule #1:
It's NEVER your fault. It's ALWAYS someone else's fault. You are COMPLETELY innocent, and have done NOTHING to put yourself in the position you are in.
At least truer intentions are being formalized, revealing what many have said for a long time now. Most of the rest of the excuses used by the Palestinians and the Arab world, to not make peace, are now seen for the balderdash they are. The only real focus has been and continues to be, the removal of Israel.
Gotta agree with ya both.
Ditto and ditto.