Today, Tuesday, Palestinian flags at half-mast in various Palestinian institutions, embassies and representations in all countries of the world, on the occasion of the 104th anniversary of the issuance of the Balfour Declaration, according to which Britain granted the Jews the right to establish a national home for them in Palestine.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decision to fly the Palestinian flag at half-mast in condemnation of the Balfour Declaration, and the resulting displacement of the Palestinian people and the robbery of their legitimate rights.
Abbas' decision stipulated that the Palestinian flag at half-mast is a reminder to the whole world, in particular the United Kingdom, of the need to assume responsibility to enable the Palestinian people to enjoy their legitimate rights of independence, freedom, and return.
The Palestine Liberation Organization called on Britain to apologize to the Palestinian people and atone for the crime of issuing the Balfour Declaration by recognizing the Palestinian state.
As for the Hamas movement, it considered that Britain "committed a historic massacre against a people with an existence, culture and history, and it is now obligated to atone for its sin by restoring rights to its people, and a practical apology to the Palestinian people for the return of the refugees from its sons."
Hamas said in a statement on the occasion, "Resistance in all its forms, from popular to armed, will remain a legitimate option that has proven its feasibility, and it will not be retracted until the Palestinian people's stolen right is restored and the occupation is swept away."
From the vigil against the Balfour Declaration in front of the British Consulate in Jerusalem pic.twitter.com/TGSfnN51Y0
— AlQastal Al Qastal (@AlQastalps) November 2, 2021
In occupied Jerusalem, Palestinians organized a protest in front of the British Consulate General in East Jerusalem, and demanded that Britain apologize and shoulder its responsibilities resulting from the Balfour Declaration.
The Mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Territories, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, said that with this promise, he "gave those who do not own to those who do not deserve, and the patient Palestinian people have rejected it and are stationed in this land, since its issuance."
He added, "The Palestinian people are still the owner of the legitimate right, rooted in this land, and they still cling to their rights on this land, because the Palestinian people are the legitimate owner of this land."
On November 2, 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour sent a letter to Lord Lionel Walter Rothschild, one of the leaders of the Zionist movement, later known as the "Balfour Declaration".
The text of the letter stated that "His Majesty's Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will make every effort to facilitate the achievement of this end."
Balfour claimed in his letter that Britain would preserve the rights of other nationalities residing in Palestine, which it did not adhere to.
The promise coincided with Britain's occupation of the entire territory of historic Palestine during the First World War.
A year later, Italy and France announced their approval of it, followed by official American approval in 1919, and then Japan joined in the same year.
During the British occupation of Palestine (1917-1948), London worked to attract Jews from all countries of the world, organize them and provide them with support for the establishment of the State of Israel.