November 2, 1917: A day that will live in Infamy

90 Years ago, the Balfour Declaration was issued.

Excerpt on the Balfour declaration from the book "Sharing the Land of Canaan: Human
Rights and the Israeli Palestinian Struggle" by Mazin Qumsiyeh and a brief follow-up
comment on its relevance to today's events (wars on Iraq and soon on Iran):

The events leading up to the support of Britain and France for Zionist aspirations have
received little historical discussion.  In examining historical documents of powerful
nations like France and Britain, we find these nations issuing declarations to support the
Zionist aspirations.   This came in France first with a letter sent from Jules Cambon,
Secretary General of the French Foreign Ministry to Nahum Sokolow (at the time head of the
political wing of the World Zionist Organization based in London) dated June 4, 1917:

"You were kind enough to inform me of your project regarding the expansion of the
Jewish colonization of Palestine.  You expressed to me that, if the circumstances were
allowing for that, and if on another hand, the independency of the holy sites was
guaranteed, it would then be a work of justice and retribution for the allied forces to
help the renaissance of the Jewish nationality on the land from which the Jewish people
was exiled so many centuries ago.
The French Government, which entered this present war to defend a people wrongly attacked,
and which continues the struggle to assure victory of right over might, cannot but feel
sympathy for your cause, the triumph of which is bound up with that of the Allies. I am
happy to give you herewith such assurance" [7]

Some five months later, on November 2, 1917, the British Foreign Secretary Arthur James
Balfour conveyed to Lord Rothschild a similar declaration of sympathy with Zionist
aspirations.  It stated that:

"His Majesty's Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a
national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the
achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which
may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in
Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.
"

Palestinians and others in the Arab world were immediately alarmed.  This declaration was
issued when Britain had no jurisdiction over the area, and was done without consultation
of the inhabitants of the land that was to become a "national home for the Jewish
people."  The declaration also wanted to protect "rights and political
status" of Jews who choose not to immigrate to Palestine.   However, the native
Palestinians are simply referred to as non-Jews and their political rights are not
mentioned but only their "civic and religious rights".  Lord Balfour wrote in a
private memorandum sent to Lord Curzon, his successor at the Foreign Office (Curzon
initially opposed Zionism) on 11 August 1919:

"For in Palestine we do not propose to go through the form of consulting the wishes
of the present inhabitants ... The four great powers are committed to Zionism and Zionism,
be it right or wrong, good or bad, is rooted in age-long tradition, in present needs, in
future hopes, of far profounder import than the desires and prejudices of the 700,000
Arabs who now inhabit that ancient land" [8]

The Jules and Balfour declarations are two documents that demonstrate the support made to
the Zionist supranational entity that facilitated giving them control over a land that
neither of the two governments had control of at the time. Some British authors have
provided explanations of this support based on a quid pro quo for Weizman's contribution
to the British war efforts through such efforts as the development of better chemicals for
explosives.  Some argued that it was related to Britain's simple domestic situation with
many Zionists both in the government and among the electorate.  It could also be argued
that Britain and France now had more reason had to benefit from a revival of their early
1840s desires to settle European Jews in Palestine as a way of a structural remodeling of
Middle East geopolitics. Undermining the Ottoman Empire, which was now allied with
Germany, provides only partial explanation and a poor one at best. 

Jewish population in Palestine at the time was miniscule and most and was hardly in any
position to engage in resistance against the Ottoman Empire.  By contrast, nationalistic
Arabs from the Arabian Peninsula were willing to oppose the Ottoman Empire and eager to
liberate their native lands from the grip of the Turks.  England in fact promised to
support their independence as a result of their convergent interests as supported by
documents such as the British correspondence with Sharif Hussain of Arabia and in the
memoirs of T. E. Lawrence "of Arabia".  As historians do, there is much argument
about the factors and their relative importance that led to the decisions made by the
governments in question.  Much is now written about how the US entered the war and the
possible role of influential corporate interests and US Zionists in bringing the US media
and government to support the war efforts.

The British had also made a promise of independence to the Arabs if they aided them in
opposing the Ottoman Empire.  This was one of many "promises" but it was the one
that was to over-ride all others as concrete actions were to reveal in just a short period
of time.  It important to note that these governments declared their public support for
Zionism, even while simultaneously making private assurances to Arabs.  The British and
French public support was later joined by the Americans.

With acquiescence by the ailing President Wilson and an American administration slowly
sinking into isolationism, the British had a free hand to implement their plans in
Palestine.  Palestinians, both Christians and Muslims, rioted against the British forces
on February 27, 1920 in Jerusalem.  The British command in Palestine recommended that the
Balfour Declaration be revoked.  However, the British leadership in London did not share
the views of their soldiers and commanders in Palestine.  As soon as Britain managed to
secure the League of Nations mandate, it replaced its military governor there with a
Zionist Jew: Sir Herbert Samuel as the first High Commissioner of Palestine (1920-25).  It
was Samuel who so effectively coached Weizmann during the Balfour negotiations.  After
Samuel became high commissioner, Jewish immigration greatly increased, and with it
Palestinian resistance.  Herbert Samuel and the Zionist leaning colonial offices in
Palestine proceeded to set up the political, legal, and the economic underpinning for
transforming the area to a Jewish country.  Britain, with the acquiescence of other great
powers, acquired the powers needed for its colonial venture.  At the World Zionist
Organization meeting held in London in July 1920, a new financial arm was established
named the Keren Hayesod. 

End of section from "Sharing the Land of Canaan"

In November 2, 1918, Balfour day parade in Jewish Jerusalem, Musa Kathim al-Husseini,
Jerusalem's mayor at the time, handed the British governor of Palestine, Storrs, a
petition from more than 100 Palestinian notables which stated:
"We have noticed yesterday a large crowed of Jews carrying banners and over-running
the streets shouting words which hurt the feeling and wound the soul. They [Zionist Jews]
pretend with OPEN VOICE that Palestine, which is the Holy Land of our fathers and the
graveyard of our ancestors, which has been inhabited by the Arabs for long ages, who loved
it and died in defending it, is NOW a national home for them." (Benny Morris,
Righteous Victims, p. 90)

Lord Sydenham of the British House of Deputies replied prophetically to Balfour:
"... the harm done by dumping down an alien population upon an Arab country - Arab
all around in the hinterland - may never be remedied ... what we have done is, by
concessions, not to the Jewish people but to a Zionist extreme section, to start a running
sore in the East, and no one can tell how far that sore will extend." (UN: The
Origins And Evolution Of Palestine Problem, section IV)

Edward Mandell House, US President Wilson's aid, wrote Lord Balfour predicting the outcome
of future implementation of the Balfour Declaration: "It is all bad and I told
Balfour so. They are making [the Middle East] a breeding place for future war."
(Benny Morris, Righteous Victims, p. 73)

AIPAC and other Israeli apologists pushed for the war on Iraq ($500 bilion, countless
lives so far) and are pushing for conflict with Iran after countless wars and tens of
thousands of lives lost and millions of refugees displaced. That it has been a
"breeding place for future wars" is an understatement.

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
http://qumsiyeh.org