DayofPal—Approximately 45 members of the UK Parliament and House of Lords signed a letter urging Britain to issue a formal apology for the 1917 Balfour Declaration.
The declaration paved the way for the establishment of Israel in 1948 and the subsequent displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during the Nakba.
The letter condemned the historical violations committed by Britain during its mandate in Palestine from 1917 to 1948. .Among the signatories were Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, Labour MP Nadia Whittome, and Green Party MP Carla Denyer.
This move follows a petition submitted to the British government in September of last year by Palestinian businessman Muneeb Al-Masri, calling for both an apology and reparations for Britain’s historical role in dispossessing Palestinians of their land.
The petition presented evidence that Britain violated international law during the mandate, denied Arabs the right to self-determination, and had no legal basis for issuing the Balfour Declaration or administering Palestine.
It also accused the UK of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the demolition of Palestinian homes.
The Balfour Declaration, named after then-British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour, expressed support for a Jewish homeland in historic Palestine while ostensibly safeguarding the rights of the existing population.
In practice, however, it facilitated the forced displacement of roughly 750,000 Palestinians and violent acts against the indigenous population.
Survivors of the Nakba and their descendants remain unable to return to their homes in territories now occupied by Israel, as many were demolished and replaced by settlements.
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