The balfour declaration, for all its vagaries, constituted the. The infamous balfour declaration and the 1947 partition. The making of the balfour declaration palestinian return centre. The balfour declaration will most likely be of interest to general readers seeking to engage with recent debates on the legacy of the infamous letter, or undergraduate students looking for a primer. Dear lord rothschild, i have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of his majestys government, the following declaration of sympathy with jewish zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the cabinet. Balfour declaration, statement on november 2, 1917, of british support for the establishment in palestine of a national home for jewish people. Despite the millions of words published on the balfour declaration in the last 100 years, many aspects of the.
It was made in a letter from the british foreign secretary to a leader of the anglojewish community and was later included in the british mandate over palestine. Balfour declaration 1926 page 4 of 14 defined by the government of india act, 1919. Lustick and others published the balfour declaration a century later. Zionist jews sanction to populate palestine the british government first had contact with the zionist movement 1 in 1902, but the first murmurings about the idea of the restoration of the jews to palestine had surfaced some 60 years earlier. The balfour declaration of 1917 my jewish learning.
The balfour declaration is ttay null ad vid 3 whereas the balfour declaration, sought the establishment of a national home for the jews in palestine, not in all palestine, and the preservation of civil and religious rights of palestinians, both provisions were, in reality, gravely breached from day one. The declaration came in a letter that british foreign secretary arthur james balfour sent to lord rothschild lionel walter rothschild, the honorary. In this letter of 2 november 1917, britains foreign secretary, arthur balfour, wrote to lord lionel walter rothschild, as a figurehead of the jewish community in. The balfour declaration led the league of nations to entrust the united kingdom with the palestine mandate in 1922. Rashid khalidi, columbia university united nations. It was assumed that the letter gave the british governments support to the creation of a jewish homeland. The balfour declaration had ceased to be a statement from the british cabinet and became an internationally sanctioned legal document.
In fact, many credit this as a key factor in the creation of israel. The balfour declaration, november 1917 the balfour project. Search your school to find 1,000s of items curated for you. The terms of the declaration were included in the preamble of the palestine mandates articles 1922, and given international sanction and. Foreign office november 2nd, 1917 dear lord rothschild, i have much pleasure in conveying to. The declaration also said that britain supported plans for a jewish homeland in palestine.
Balfour declaration synonyms, balfour declaration pronunciation, balfour declaration translation, english dictionary definition of balfour declaration. The balfour declaration was a letter written by british foreign secretary arthur balfour to lionel walter rothschild, in which he expressed the british governments support for a jewish homeland. Palestine was, at the time, a remote province in the disintegrating ottoman empire, with which. The mandatory should be responsible, the preamble stated, for putting into effect the declaration originally made on november. Using filesharing servers api, our site will find the ebook file in various formats such as pdf, epub and other. The balfour declaration of 1926, issued by the 1926 imperial conference of british empire leaders in london, was named after lord president of the council and former prime minister of the united kingdom arthur balfour. This insight is allimportant in understanding how the declaration and the mandate structured what happened next. On november 2, 1917, lord balfour of great britain wrote a letter promising a jewish home to the jewish people in the land of palestine. At the time, britain was eager to win jewish support for its war goals and for a british takeover of palestine from the ottoman empire. Class rings, yearbooks, graduation and gifts balfour.
The balfour declaration was a november 2, 1917 letter from british foreign secretary arthur james balfour to lord rothschild that made public the british support of a jewish homeland in palestine. The balfour declaration is not something to be celebrated certainly not while one of the peoples affected continues to suffer such injustice. Zionism seeks to establish a home for the jewish people in palestine secured under public. While the balfour declaration was a less than ringing endorsement of zionism, zionists considered it a major breakthrough, because it cracked open a door that they would later force wider and wider open. The balfour declaration was a letter written in the name of the british government, by lord arthur james balfour. Pdf balfour declaration, a century later researchgate. The balfour declaration was a letter written by british foreign secretary arthur balfour to lionel walter rothschild, in which he expressed the british governments support for. I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of his majestys government, the.
For 100 years the british statement, which inaugurated zionisms legitimation in the eyes of the world, has been seen as the isolated act of a single nation. Snapshot undoubtedly, the balfour declaration sowed the seeds of the political trajectory of jewish nationalism and led to the drawing of a roadmap for the realisation of jewish statehood in their ancestral home. The balfour declaration was the jewish charter that herzl failed to obtain from the ottoman sultan twenty years earlier. Balfour declaration definition of balfour declaration by.
The balfour declaration was preceded by the zionist movement that had started in eastern and central europe at the end of the 18th century that aimed at establishing a jewish state in palestine where jews had once lived, before dispersing to other parts of the world particularly europe many many centuries ago. The declaration was contained in a letter dated 2 november 1917 from the united kingdoms foreign secretary arthur. Just before israel became a state, it was ruled by the british empire. The balfour declaration was a statement of support made by the british government for the establishment of a national home for the jewish people in eretz. The land of palestine was ruled by many nations over the ages.
The balfour declaration from the perspective of the palestinian people it is a great honor to be asked to speak here on the 100 th anniversary of the balfour declaration. According to the mandate system created by the versailles treaty of 1919, britain was entrusted with. The study ultimately falls short of the promised recasting of a pivotal moment in british, imperial and palestinian history. Pdf on nov 2, 2017, kumaraswamy p r and others published balfour declaration, a century later find, read and cite all the research you. On 2 november 1917, british foreign secretary arthur balfour wrote a letter to walter rothschild, a leading figure in the british jewish community, expressing the governments support for a jewish homeland in palestine. It took the form of a letter from lord balfour british foreign secretary to lord rothschild, a prominent zionist, announcing the support of the british government for the establishment of a national home for the jewish people in palestine without prejudice to the civil and religious rights of the non.
The forgotten truth about the balfour declaration pdf scholars at. The hidden history of the balfour declaration on jstor. The contents of this letter became known as the balfour declaration. The balfour declaration was more than the promise of one nation pdf 345 kb. The balfour declaration was discussed at the 1919 paris peace conference and again when the future of the middle east was ratified in the 1920 san remo treaty. Comprising a single paragraph, the text became known as the balfour declaration. Declaration was published, zionism had crossparty support in britain as. The balfour declaration, november 1917 introduction one of the most important statements of british foreign policy of the twentieth century, the balfour declaration was no more than a short, vague letter that had no legal status. The issuance of the declaration had many long lasting consequences, and was a key moment in the leadup to the arabisraeli conflict, often referred to. It is no exaggeration that the history of israelpalestine for the last hundred years has turned on the seminal balfour declaration of november 1917. The balfour declaration from the perspective of the palestinian. The balfour declaration was the british governments pledge to help the jewish community build a national home in palestine and took the form of a letter penned on 2 november 1917 by british foreign minister lord balfour to lord rothschild, then serving bicom briefing the balfour declaration. On thousands of gifts in our balfour campus store as a thanks for ordering your yearbook. The forgotten truth about the balfour declaration pdf 408 kb.
We would, nevertheless, recall that by resolution ix of the imperial war conference, 1917, due recognition was given to the important position held by india in the british commonwealth. The balfour declaration an early step toward the creation of the nationstate of israel occurred in 1917, during world war i. A question rarely asked is why balfour addressed his letter to lord rothschild, rather than to sir stuart samuel, president of the board of deputies of british jews. The forgotten truth about the balfour declaration martin. The influence of the balfour declaration on the course of postwar events was immediate. The balfour declaration was the first major political triumph of zionism and the culmination of jewish independent political activity until that time. Build your grad pack and conveniently order all your commencement. Download the hidden history of the balfour declaration as ebook press the button start search and wait a little while. It declared the united kingdom and the dominions to be. The balfour declaration of 1917 history learning site.
Behind the balfour declaration britains great war pledge to rothschild bankers this was the british governments promised payoff to the rotscgild bankers for their pressure on the usa to bail the brits out of world war 1, which the brits were losing. A decade later, as british foreign secretary, he wrote the document known as the balfour declaration, which recognized the jewish peoples. And then when the british issued their outline for how palestine would be governed, the contents of the balfour declaration were found in the league of nations july 1922 ratification. When the balfour declaration, which promised a national home for the jews in palestine, was issued by the british foreign office in november 1917, it was not clear what the declaration intended or what the policy vaguely outlined in it would eventually lead to. As is well known, the balfour declaration is a short statement signed by britains foreign secretary alfred balfour in november 1917 and addressed to the head of the british branch of the rothschilds, in which he pledges the support of the british government to the zionist goal of establishing a jewish state in palestine, or, as arthur koestler. James balfour, the british foreign secretary, conveyed the following pledge in a public letter to a. After discussions within the cabinet and consultations with jewish leaders, the decision was made public in a letter from british foreign secretary lord arthur james balfour to lord walter rothschild.
1065 202 481 498 1425 575 97 1295 1342 727 1138 1183 265 1079 1390 524 358 554 899 549 58 1466 344 1179 746 653 932 1100 1241 1268 1476 1020 1071 1317 992 1123 1030 1448 1418