Balfour Declaration Has No Legal or Ethical Basis
DAMASCUS, (ST)- The ill-famed Balfour Declaration, through which Britain gave the Jews “the right to build their national homeland” in Palestine, has no legal or ethical basis and Britain should be held completely responsible for all the repercussions of this declaration, according to the Baath Arab Socialist Party (BASP) National Leadership.
The Balfour Declaration was a letter dated 2 November 1917 from the then United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Lord Rothschild, Head of Zionist Movement, that promised support for the idea of a Jewish homeland in historical Palestine.
In a statement issued marking the 99th anniversary of Balfour Declaration and the 69th anniversary of issuing Resolution No. 181 on dividing the land of Palestine, the BASP National Leadership said ” the repercussions of Balfour Declaration are still causing suffering to the Palestinians in particular and the Arabs in general, starting with occupying the Palestinian people’s land, displacing them, depriving them from the right to determine their future and practicing all forms of terrorism against them, including killing, house demolishing and land confiscation.”
Britain should apologize for the Declaration
The leadership called for supporting the international campaign to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Balfour declaration and stressed the need to mobilize and unify the Arabs’ efforts in coordination with international movements as to pressure Britain to apologize for the declaration and to shoulder its responsibilities as regards the catastrophe caused to the Palestinian people by issuing this declaration. The Leadership also called for unifying Arabs efforts to help the Palestinian people restore all their rights, foremost of which is the right to return to their homeland.
In its statement, the national leadership said that Resolution No. 181 which adopted the Partition Plan for Palestine and whose 69th anniversary falls on November 29, is “null and void” because it is illegal and it contradicts the rules of international law.
The leadership stressed that Syria will continue to firmly support the Palestinian cause as well as the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and to establish their independent state.
Decisive stance against schemes aiming to undermine Palestinian cause Needed
In the same context, the Palestinian Regional Leadership of the Baath Party urged a decisive stance against all schemes aiming to undermine the Palestinian cause and cancel the Palestinian people’s rights and against all procedures to Judaize al-Quds.
In a statement, the leadership said that almost a century after Balfour Declaration, the Palestinian people are still confronting the Zionist colonialist schemes inside occupied Palestine and outside it with all possible means.
“The Intifada of al-Quds youths, which was launched a year ago, has proved the Palestinian people’s vividness,” the leadership said, stressing that the support provided by the Syrian army, people and leadership has had great effect in consolidating the Palestinian struggle.
Balfour Declaration first step to implement Sykes-Picot agreement
On its part, the Syrian Social Nationalist Party in Syria said the ill-famed Balfour Declaration was the first step to implement the Sykes-Picot agreement of 1916 which was the corner stone of all western colonialist schemes in order to give the Jews Palestine and to impose a new situation in the region in which the “Jewish state will be the main base on which the West can depend to eliminate Arabs’ hope in achieving progress or having their normal position among countries of the world.”
In a statement, the party added that the ongoing heinous aggression on the Arab nation seeks paving the way for drawing up new maps for the region according to ethnic and sectarian perspective to serve the American-Zionist interest.
Hamda Mustafa