Israel will “disappear,” vows Abbas’ advisor and PA supreme Shari'ah judge, on anniversary of "ominous" Balfour Declaration
Headline: “104 years since the ominous ‘Balfour Declaration’”
“Yesterday, Nov. 2, [2021,] was the 104th anniversary of the issuing of the ominous ‘Balfour Declaration,’ by force of which Britain gave the Jews the right to establish a national home in Palestine…
The Jews succeeded in exploiting this piece of paper that was published by [former British Foreign Secretary] Arthur Balfour, who was known for his closeness to the Zionist movement, and afterwards the Mandate for Palestine and [UN] General Assembly Resolution [181] of 1947 on partitioning Palestine. Thus, on May 15 (sic., 14), 1948, they realized their dream of establishing Israel, and this entity gained membership in the UN under the pressure of the large states. Israel became the first state in the history of the global political system established on the land of others…
Supreme Shari’ah Judge of Palestine and [PA] President [Mahmoud Abbas’] Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash said that ‘the Balfour Declaration,’ which inflicted on us a great injustice, is not just a word or a declaration, but rather a legitimization of all the injustice that was inflicted following it until this very day, for more than 104 years.
Al-Habbash emphasized in a statement for the anniversary: ‘Palestine remains, while the end of the occupation, those who created it, and those who stand behind it, is to disappear.’
He added that those who thought that ‘the adults will die and the young will forget’ are delusional, and that our Palestinian people rises anew from among the ruins in spite of Britain, Balfour, and Zionism, in order to tell the world: ‘I have not died, I am in the eyes of history and geography, I want my right, and I will never relinquish it.’
Al-Habbash noted: ‘The official and popular Palestinian demands that Britain apologize for this crime and atone for the sin… are our people’s authentic right…’
He explained that the first step in atoning for this crime must be recognition of the fully sovereign State of Palestine whose capital is Jerusalem, and an apology to Palestine, its Martyrs, and the owners of the homes that were destroyed on top of their inhabitants.”
Mahmoud Al-Habbash also serves as Chairman of the Supreme Council for Shari'ah Justice. In August 2019 PA Chairman Abbas dismissed all his advisors by Presidential decree. It is unclear what their status is today.
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." In 1922, the League of Nations adopted this and made the British Mandate "responsible for putting into effect the declaration," which led to the UN vote in favor of partitioning Mandatory Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state in 1947. In response, Britain ended its mandate on May 15, 1948, and the Palestinian Jews, who accepted the Partition Plan, declared the independent State of Israel. The Palestinian Arabs rejected the plan and together with 7 Arab states attacked Israel, in what is now known as Israel's War of Independence.
UN Resolution 181 (the UN partition plan for Palestine) was passed by the UN General Assembly in 1947. It called for the partition of the British Mandate of Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, with Jerusalem as a separate entity under the rule of a special international body. The Arab state was meant to be comprised of the western Galilee, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, and the remaining territory of the Mandate west of the Jordan River would be the state of Israel - Jordan (known at the time as Transjordan) had already been established in what had been the part of the Mandate that was east of the Jordan River. The resolution was accepted by the Jewish Agency for Palestine, but Arab leaders and governments rejected it, and launched a war to destroy Israel.