By Mohamed Majed
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – Palestinian resistance group Hamas has demanded that Britain apologize for the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which paved the way for the creation of Israel — and the dispossession of the Palestinians — in 1948.
Hamas issued its demand on Friday, which coincided with the infamous document’s 101st anniversary.
The Balfour Declaration was a letter sent by Britain’s then foreign secretary, Arthur James Balfour, to Lord Walter Rothschild, a prominent Zionist leader, on Nov. 2, 1917.
In the letter, Balfour declares his government’s support for a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine.
In a Friday statement, Hamas demanded a British apology for the fateful document.
“Britain must apologize to the Palestinian people [for the Balfour Declaration and subsequent creation of Israel] and allow for the repatriation of refugees displaced from historical Palestine,” the statement read.
Hamas went on to stress the Palestinian people’s “right to resist the [Israeli] occupation until they have achieved their objective of total liberation”.
The resistance group, which has governed the blockaded Gaza Strip since 2007, also reiterated its longstanding rejection of any political or diplomatic normalization with Israel.
