PLO official: Balfour Declaration “will remain void,” was issued by “one who had no ownership”, to “one who has no right”

Headline: “Abu Houli: The Balfour Promise is void, and Britain must apologize to the Palestinian people”

“PLO Executive Committee member and head of the [PLO] Department of Refugee Affairs Dr. Ahmad Abu Houli emphasized… in a press release that was published today [Nov. 2, 2019] for the 102nd anniversary of the Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration)… that the Balfour Promise will remain void because it was issued by one who had no ownership over the land, and was given to one who has no right.”

The Balfour Declaration of Nov. 2, 1917 was a letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Baron Rothschild stating that "His Majesty's government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people." In 1922, the League of Nations adopted this and made the British Mandate "responsible for putting into effect the declaration," which led to the UN vote in favor of partitioning Mandatory Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state in 1947. In response, Britain ended its mandate on May 15, 1948, and the Palestinian Jews, who accepted the Partition Plan, declared the independent State of Israel. The Palestinian Arabs rejected the plan and together with 7 Arab states attacked Israel, in what is now known as Israel's War of Independence.