November 2 marks the centenary of the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which began the still-ongoing colonisation of Palestine and sowed the seeds of an endless nightmare for the Palestinian people, both those who were forced to flee at gunpoint and those who have managed to remain in the shredded remains of their homeland under Israel’s brutal military occupation.
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A movement called the Balfour Declaration Centenary Campaign is urging action and wants an apology.
“We call on the international community and all peace and justice loving people to join the campaign to call on the Government and Parliament of the United Kingdom to:
- Reject the Balfour Declaration including its role as an instrument of displacement and dispossession of the Palestinian people;
- Issue an official apology to the Arab Palestinian people for their role in issuing the Balfour Declaration and making possible the displacement and dispossession of the Palestinian people;
- Acknowledge their historic, legal and moral responsibility for damages sustained as a result of the implementation of the Balfour Declaration; and,
- Institute reparations to the Palestinian people in accordance with the provisions and principles of international law, justice and equity, which guarantee the right of return of the Palestinian refugees to their homeland and the right of self-determination.”
A Century of Ethnic Cleansing and Denial of Palestinian Rights
A seventeen-year-old girl trembling with grief and…