Palestine to put Britain on trial for “destroying the life of an entire Palestinian people”
Headline: “The Balfour trial: Rummaging in the memory of the elderly, in search of a right that was stolen”
“[On one side is] an ominous British promise, and opposing it is a sincere Palestinian promise to pursue [former British Foreign Secretary Arthur] Balfour and his country for giving what was not theirs to one who has no right (refers to the Balfour Declaration; see note below –Ed.). The result was hardship and disasters for a people [Palestinians] who have never relinquished their right to establish their state, which was stolen according to a British decision. The memory of the surviving witnesses to the crime is abundant, and they are recounting in detail… all the crimes that they saw, which were caused as a result of the Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration).
A 100-year-old witness began to speak before the Nablus Trial Court about the cooperation between the Zionist gangs and the British Mandate army. He brought examples of the exchange of roles and transferring of camps full of weapons to the Zionist gangs in that period…
Attorney Luay Abdo, one of the activists in the initiative to sue Britain, said that the lawsuit submitted against the British government was the outcome of discussions within many Palestinian circles…
Abdo emphasized that the goal of the trial is to extract a confession from Britain that the Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration) destroyed the life of an entire Palestinian people and entity, whose place was taken by a racist colonialist entity (i.e., Israel). He explained that Britain behaved at the time as if Palestine were its property, and therefore they gave the Jews the right to take control of the land…
He explained that the lawsuit is legally solid and meets all the requirements, and therefore there is a good chance that it will succeed in the local courts… and afterwards will become a Palestinian legal ruling, after which the matter will be brought before international courts, specifically in the British arena…
Regarding the essence of the lawsuit, Abdo said that the focus will be on the [Palestinian refugees’] right of return and compensation for the Palestinians for the results [of the Balfour Declaration], which destroyed the future of all Palestinians…
Abdo noted that following this lawsuit additional lawsuits will come. He called on everyone who was harmed by the Balfour Promise to join the initiative to sue Britain, and emphasized that the court is legal and not political.”
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.