The Palestinian rejection of Israel’s right to exist

The Palestinian objection to the 1917 Balfour Declaration is one of the most explicit expressions of the Palestinian rejection of Israel’s right to exist. This year, as in previous years, the Palestinian Authority and its leaders marked the historical event with a barrage of statements condemning the declaration, that ranged from outright rejection to elaborate conspiracy theories.  

The common theme of all the statements, as Palestinian Media Watch has conclusively demonstrated, is the denial of the internationally and historically recognized connection of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel and the rejection of the legitimacy of the State of Israel, in any borders.  

Leading the barrage was the PA Ministry of Information which claimed that the declaration was “the crime of the era” which “exceeded the crimes of colonialism”, and called on the Britain to “be ashamed of their sin”.

“The [PA] Ministry of Information said that the black Balfour Promise in its 105th year is the crime of the era, … this unjust promise is a dangerous precedent in the history of international relations… that … exceeded the crimes of colonialism… 

The Ministry of Information reemphasized that Britain and all its diplomats should be ashamed of their sin, their historical injustice, and their denial of all the laws and conventions…” – which obligates them to recognize the State of Palestine and stop blindly siding with injustice, occupation, and colonialism.” 

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 2, 2022] 

PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh also condemned the declaration, claiming that “Britain gave that which it did not have ownership over to one who has no right”. Shtayyeh added his demand that Britain correct its historical mistake by recognizing the “State of Palestine: 

“[At the weekly PA governmental meeting, PA] Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh said… that the anniversary of the ominous Balfour Declaration  will take place in two days, Wednesday [Nov. 2, 2022], ‘and through it Britain gave that which it did not have ownership over to one who has no right. We are still paying the price of this ominous declaration’s consequences in political, material, humanitarian, geographical, and other terms, and Britain must correct its historical mistake and recognize the sovereign and contiguous State of Palestine whose capital is Jerusalem, and the [Palestinian] refugees’ right of return.’” 

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 1, 2022] 

The PA Presidential Guard posted a similar message on its Facebook page: 

Posted text: “The 105th anniversary of the ominous Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration) 

On Nov. 2, 1917, the ominous Balfour Promise was issued, by virtue of which Britain gave the Jews the right to establish a national home in Palestine, based on the false statement ‘A land without a people for a people without a land.’ … 
This is a black day in the history of the Palestinian people and even in the history of all humanity, and a blow to justice and the international institutions.” 

The image shows Arab refugees at the top and bottom, and on the left is a picture of former British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour next to the Balfour Declaration, with a large red “X” crossing them both out. 

Text on image: “The Balfour Promise 

We will not forget the ominous promise 

The 105th anniversary of the ominous Balfour Promise 

The day of the Palestinians emigrating from their cities and villages” 

[PA Presidential Guard, Facebook page, Nov. 2, 2022] 

Fatah, the movement headed by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, also made the same claims:  

Posted text: “105 years since the ominous Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration) 

A promise of one who has no ownership to one who has no right 

Today, Wednesday, Nov. 2, [2022,] is the 105th anniversary of the issuing of the ominous Balfour Promise, by virtue of which Britain gave the Jews the right to establish a national home in Palestine. 
Our elderly are dying, and our young people will not forget. 
#Balfour_105” 

The image shows former British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour on the right, and on the left is the logo of Fatah-run Awdah TV. 

Text on image: “Lest we forget our Palestine 

British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour 

The Balfour Promise – 

A promise of one who has no ownership to one who has no right 

The Balfour Promise is the common nickname for a letter that Arthur James Balfour sent on Nov. 2, 1917, to Lord Lionel Walter Rothschild, in which he noted the British government’s support for establishing a national home for the Jews in our Palestine.” 

[Fatah Commission of Information and Culture, Facebook page, Nov. 2, 2022] 

Intertwined with the claims that the declaration was a colonialist endeavor, other Palestinians alleged that its purpose was to “get rid of the Jews”: 

Athar Hab Al-Reich, writing in the Official PA daily, presented the two sides of the claim:  

“On November 2 of every year the ominous British [Balfour] Promise (i.e., Declaration) shines in our memories, in which Palestine was handed on a silver platter in 1917 to the Jewish groups spread in all the world’s states. This was not just a promise, but rather a colonialist plan that laid the basis for establishing the occupation entity on our land. This promise was not the outcome of that historical moment, and not a surprising event, but rather the result of previous French, German, and American ‘Balfour-esque’ stations and trends, for the purpose of getting rid of the Jews by settling them in Palestine.” 

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 3, 2022] 

Speaking on official PA TV, Palestinian studies researcher Saqr Abu Fakhr, claimed that Balfour was hostile to the Jews and similarly argued that his goal was to “get rid of the Jews of Europe”: 

“Balfour was hostile to the Jews. He was the foreign secretary at the time and prior to that he was prime minister. He was from the movement that was hostile to the Jews, but he wanted to resolve the problem, he wanted to get rid of the Jews who came from Europe. It is known that he is the one who formulated the Aliens Act [1905] that prevented the Jews from entering Britain, and he viewed the Jews as an element that cannot integrate, and he says in his books that the Jews are a group that cannot integrate in other groups.” 

[Official PA TV, From the Diaspora, Oct. 31, 2022] 

Breaking down the Palestinian statements reflects a number of distortions of reality that are inherent to the Palestinian narrative.  

As PMW noted, while the Balfour Declaration was an important statement of British policy, ultimately, it was not the authoritative decision to establish Israel. 

The distortions of the comments are twofold. Firstly, they ignore the fact that it was the international community, and not Britain alone, that decided to recognize the historical connection of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel and to allocate that piece of land to the Jewish people for the purpose of reconstituting their national homeland.    

The decisions of the international community were not taken in a vacuum, but rather were the product of careful consideration, as part of the international effort to deal with the consequences of World War I and the demise of the Ottoman Empire. 

One of the documents that reflect the sentiments of the time was the US “Outline of Tentative report and recommendations prepared by the Intelligence Section, in accordance with instructions, for the President and the plenipotentiaries” dated Jan. 21 1919, prepared for the discussions at the Paris Peace Conference. The document set out a vision to form both parts of Europe and the Middle East. Alongside the creation of many Arab countries, the document recommended creating, de novo, an independent state called “Palestine” which would be a “Jewish state”. No independent state called “Palestine” had ever existed previously: 

“It is recommended: 

1) That there be established a separate state of Palestine. 

2) That this state be placed Under Great Britain as a mandatory of the League of Nations. 

3) That the Jews be invited to return to Palestine and settle there being assured by the Conference of all proper assistance in so doing that may be consistent with the protection of the personal (especially the religious) and the property rights of the non-Jewish population. and being further assured that it will- be the policy of the League of Nations to recognize Palestine as a Jewish state as soon as it is a Jewish state in fact. 

4) That the holy places and religious rights of all creeds in Palestine be placed under the protection of the League of Nations and its mandatory. 
 

 

[My Diary at the Conference of Paris, With Documents,  

By David Hunter Miller, Volume IV, Documents 216-304] 

The discussion of the recommendations added: 

“The separation of the Palestinian area from Syria finds justification in the religious experience of mankind. The Jewish and Christian churches were born in Palestine, and Jerusalem was for long years, at different periods, the capital of each. And while the relation of the Mohammedans to Palestine is not so intimate, from the beginning they have regarded Jerusalem as a holy place. Only by establishing Palestine as a separate state can justice be done to these great facts.” 

… 

It is right that Palestine should become a Jewish state, if the Jews, being given the full opportunity, make it such. It was the cradle and home of their vital race, which has made large spiritual contributions to mankind, and is the only land in which they can hope to find a home of their own; they being in this last respect unique among significant peoples. 

At present, however, the Jews form barely a sixth of the total population of 700,000 in Palestine, and whether they are to form a majority, or even a plurality, of the population in the future state remains uncertain. Palestine, in short, is far from being a Jewish country now. England, as mandatory, can be relied on to give the Jews the privileged position they should have without sacrificing the rights of non-Jews.” 

[My Diary at the Conference of Paris, With Documents,  

By David Hunter Miller, Volume IV, Documents 216-304] 

By rejecting the Balfour Declaration, and referring to it as a colonialist project that implanted a foreign entity in the region, the PA and the Palestinians are attempting to rewrite history. They do so, as a precursor to deny the Jewish people a right to a national homeland. For the PA and the Palestinians, Israel, as envisaged by the international community in 1919, as a “Jewish State,” is an illegitimate entity created as part of the “crime of the era”, no matter what its borders may delineate Israel.

The following are longer excerpts of some of the items mentioned above: 
 
“The [PA] Ministry of Information said that the black Balfour Promise in its 105th year is the crime of the era, which our people is still paying its price with its living flesh, its existence, its land, and its freedom. 

In a statement the ministry said that this unjust promise is a dangerous precedent in the history of international relations. It added that it exceeded the crimes of colonialism, ‘with favour’ and discrimination laid the basis for the endless suffering of every Palestinian, and with a the stroke of a pen gave our land to a state that began to commit ethnic cleansing… 

It also said that 67 words by [former] British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour laid the basis for our people’s long suffering, which will only end with the restoration of our rights and freedom and with the establishment of our independent state whose capital is East Jerusalem. 

The Ministry of Information reemphasized that Britain and all its diplomats should be ashamed of their sin, their historical injustice, and their denial of all the laws and conventions – which obligates them to recognize the State of Palestine and stop blindly siding with injustice, occupation, and colonialism. 

The Ministry of Information called on the national, Arab, and international media outlets to deal with this painful anniversary, and to recall the greatest political crime that has been continuing since 1917 and constitutes a promise from one who has no ownership to one who has no right.” 

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 2, 2022]