PLO, Fatah and the PA denounce Balfour Declaration as “ominous,” a “historical crime” and “the worst political crime in modern history”
Headline: "On the anniversary of the Balfour Promise: Erekat call on Britain and the world to end the occupation"
“Secretary-General of the PLO Executive Committee [Saeb Erekat] called on the countries of the world that have not yet recognized Palestine, and first among them Britain, to recognize a Palestine with sovereignty on the 1967 borders with its capital in Jerusalem, and to end its Israeli military occupation…
These things were stated in Erekat's press release on the 98th anniversary of the ominous Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration), in which he renewed his call for Britain to take legal, political, and ethical responsibility for acquiescing to the Zionist movement's request to establish a national homeland for Jews on Palestine's land, and the fact that it paved the way for, and fully supported, one of the largest ever acts of ethnic cleansing in 1948 and the expulsion of our people by force. Likewise, he called on it [Britain] to act seriously and responsibly together with the international community to correct the mistake, as our people is still paying the price of the consequences a century later…
The Fatah movement stated that our people has the exclusive right to sovereignty over its land, and no one has the right to dispose of this right, no matter how great its colonial power, its occupation, and its settlement, and the historical crimes such as the Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration) and the occupation, will not change the fact that Palestine belongs to the Palestinians.
In a notice published by the [PA] Ministry of Information and Culture in remembrance of the 98th anniversary of the Balfour Promise, the movement called on Britain to recognize the state of Palestine within the borders of June 4 [1967] with its capital in East Jerusalem, as part of the process of correcting the historical mistake which its government made against our people in 1917, on the day its Foreign Minister Balfour, gave a promise to the Jews to establish a state for them on the land and homeland of the Palestinian people…
PLO Executive Committee Member and Head of Department of Refugees Dr. Zakariya Al-Agha… stated in a notice that the damage and refugee [issue] that have befallen the Palestinian people is a result of the ominous Balfour Promise which Britain gave to the Jews on Nov. 2, 1917, in which it promised to establish a strong homeland for them on the land of Palestine.
He explained that the Balfour Promise is illegal and that its result is not legal, because it was publicized by a body that had no ownership of the land, and given to one that has no right to it…
The Ministry of Information stated that the Balfour Promise given by British Foreign Minister Balfour to the Zionist movement is the worst political crime in modern history, a cursed promise which paved the way for ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people, still taking place after 98 years. The Ministry emphasized that in order to atone for this political mistake, which forged history, and stole the land, the suffering of our people must be stopped, and it must be acknowledged before the entire world that the results of Balfour's words, not more than 60 words, continue to worsen from day to day, and require a just solution."
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” and is seen as the basis for later international commitments to establish the State of Israel.
“Secretary-General of the PLO Executive Committee [Saeb Erekat] called on the countries of the world that have not yet recognized Palestine, and first among them Britain, to recognize a Palestine with sovereignty on the 1967 borders with its capital in Jerusalem, and to end its Israeli military occupation…
These things were stated in Erekat's press release on the 98th anniversary of the ominous Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration), in which he renewed his call for Britain to take legal, political, and ethical responsibility for acquiescing to the Zionist movement's request to establish a national homeland for Jews on Palestine's land, and the fact that it paved the way for, and fully supported, one of the largest ever acts of ethnic cleansing in 1948 and the expulsion of our people by force. Likewise, he called on it [Britain] to act seriously and responsibly together with the international community to correct the mistake, as our people is still paying the price of the consequences a century later…
The Fatah movement stated that our people has the exclusive right to sovereignty over its land, and no one has the right to dispose of this right, no matter how great its colonial power, its occupation, and its settlement, and the historical crimes such as the Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration) and the occupation, will not change the fact that Palestine belongs to the Palestinians.
In a notice published by the [PA] Ministry of Information and Culture in remembrance of the 98th anniversary of the Balfour Promise, the movement called on Britain to recognize the state of Palestine within the borders of June 4 [1967] with its capital in East Jerusalem, as part of the process of correcting the historical mistake which its government made against our people in 1917, on the day its Foreign Minister Balfour, gave a promise to the Jews to establish a state for them on the land and homeland of the Palestinian people…
PLO Executive Committee Member and Head of Department of Refugees Dr. Zakariya Al-Agha… stated in a notice that the damage and refugee [issue] that have befallen the Palestinian people is a result of the ominous Balfour Promise which Britain gave to the Jews on Nov. 2, 1917, in which it promised to establish a strong homeland for them on the land of Palestine.
He explained that the Balfour Promise is illegal and that its result is not legal, because it was publicized by a body that had no ownership of the land, and given to one that has no right to it…
The Ministry of Information stated that the Balfour Promise given by British Foreign Minister Balfour to the Zionist movement is the worst political crime in modern history, a cursed promise which paved the way for ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people, still taking place after 98 years. The Ministry emphasized that in order to atone for this political mistake, which forged history, and stole the land, the suffering of our people must be stopped, and it must be acknowledged before the entire world that the results of Balfour's words, not more than 60 words, continue to worsen from day to day, and require a just solution."
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” and is seen as the basis for later international commitments to establish the State of Israel.