It is 100 years today since the Balfour Declaration was brought to the fore. The Balfour Declaration attempted, when read with some care, to balance the needs of Arabs living in Palestine at the time with the increasing demands of the Jews for a homeland in Palestine. The fact that David Lloyd George and Lord Balfour had pronounced Zionist and philo-semitic leanings (given their conservative Biblical upbringings), and, equally important, worked closely with Chaim Weizmann (a Jewish chemist who did much to serve the English military effort in WWI) does need to be noted.
It was in 1897 that Theodore Herzl birthed the Jewish Congress with the earlier aid of many a fervent Christian Zionist--20 years later guided by the more diplomatic Weizmann (1st President of Israel) the Balfour Declaration came into being. The fact that the Declaration, in an imperfect way, attempted to balance the conflicting demands of the Arabs and Jews does need to be noted (against the Zionists who see the Declaration as a free pass to invade and occupy Palestine). The balanced nature of the Declaration created many a problem for the English in Palestine as they attempted to heed the more moderate nature of the Declaration. The emerging Israeli military often turned on the English as they were convinced the land of Palestine was theirs and theirs alone. Both the English and the Arab Palestinians, again and again, faced the Jewish hawks. It is quite understandable why, in time, the English handed over Palestine to the United Nations--ideologues tend to trump moderates and, as the heat increased, any sense of light dissipated.
What would history in Israel-Palestine be like today if the Balfour Declaration had been more justly and peacefully heeded by one and all in the conflict?
Ron Dart
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