Balfour Declaration
The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British government in 1917 during the First World War announcing support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then an Ottoman region with a small minority Jewish population.
What did the Balfour Declaration state that Britain supports?
The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British government in 1917 during the First World War announcing support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then an Ottoman region with a small minority Jewish population. The declaration was contained in a letter dated 2 November 1917 from the United Kingdom's Foreign Secretary Arthur ...
What are the causes of Britain the Balfour Declaration?
- Partition diplomacy. ...
- Backing Zionist ambitions. ...
- Dramatic shift. ...
- Palestinian opposition. ...
- Holy grail of empire. ...
- 'Irrepressible conflict' Of course, the British never reached an equilibrium point in advancing the Jewish national home and preserving the peace in Palestine.
- Restructuring the colonial relationship. ...
- Partial independence. ...
- Final condemnation. ...
Who wrote the Balfour Declaration and why?
The Balfour Declaration was a letter written by British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Lionel Walter Rothschild, in which he expressed the British government’s support for a Jewish homeland in...
What was signigicant about the Balfour Declaration?
The Balfour Declaration is important because it recognizes the historical bond of the Jewish People to the Holy Land, a bond which existed long before the declaration. What was significant was its public and formal recognition and its incorporation into international law.
What was the goal of the Balfour Declaration quizlet?
The Balfour Declaration ("Balfour's promise" in Arabic) was a public pledge by Britain in 1917 declaring its aim to establish "a national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine.
What was the aim of the Balfour Declaration of 1926?
The Balfour report was accepted in full by the 1926 Imperial Conference and thus filled its purpose of laying down the fundamental principles guiding the relations between the countries of the British Commonwealth, and of each to foreign countries.
Why did the British want the Balfour Declaration?
The British government hoped that the declaration would rally Jewish opinion, especially in the United States, to the side of the Allied powers against the Central Powers during World War I (1914–18).
What is the Balfour used for?
Sklar's® Balfour Abdominal Retractor is a self-retaining retractor used in laparotomy procedures. It may also be used for specific abdominal procedures where the abdomen needs to be held open for examination or evaluation, such as cesarean sections and bowel resection.
Why did the British gave Palestine to Israel?
In 1917, in order to win Jewish support for Britain's First World War effort, the British Balfour Declaration promised the establishment of a Jewish national home in Ottoman-controlled Palestine.
What were the consequences of the Balfour Declaration?
What impact did it have on Palestinians? The Balfour Declaration is widely seen as the precursor to the 1948 Palestinian Nakba when Zionist armed groups, who were trained by the British, forcibly expelled more than 750,000 Palestinians from their homeland.
Why did Britain choose Palestine?
The British Mandate for Palestine (1918-1948) was the outcome of several factors: the British occupation of territories previously ruled by the Ottoman Empire, the peace treaties that brought the First World War to an end, and the principle of self-determination that emerged after the war.
How did the Balfour Declaration contribute to tension between Jews and Arabs?
How did the Balfour Declaration contribute to tension between Jews and Arabs? It supported the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. thousands of Palestinians became refugees.
Is Balfour Declaration legal?
Lord Balfour was the foreign minister. were solved effectively by the inclusion of the Balfour Declaration in the terms of the British Mandate for Palestine. Hence, to this day, the Balfour Declaration is a legally binding document.
What was the purpose of the Statute of Westminster?
The Statute of Westminster, 1931 — an act of the British Parliament — affirmed Canadian autonomy and recognized the virtual independence of the dominions that, for all intents and purposes, had existed in principle since World War I and the Treaty of Versailles that followed.
What was the imperial conference and Balfour report?
Balfour Report, report by the Committee on Inter-Imperial Relations at the 1926 Imperial Conference in London that clarified a new relationship between Great Britain and the Dominions of Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and the Irish Free State.
How do I cite the Balfour Declaration?
Your Bibliography: Balfour, A., 1917. The Balfour Declaration. [Letter to Lord Rothschild] WWI D.A, Official Papers.
Who signed the Statute of Westminster?
On 11 December 1931, the Statute of Westminster was passed by the British Parliament. This was done at the request and with the consent of the Dominions. This further clarified and cemented the Dominions' legislative independence.
Overview
Background
Early British political support for an increased Jewish presence in the region of Palestine was based upon geopolitical calculations. This support began in the early 1840s and was led by Lord Palmerston, following the occupation of Syria and Palestine by separatist Ottoman governor Muhammad Ali of Egypt. French influence had grown in Palestine and the wider Middle East, and its role as pro…
Approvals
Balfour met Weizmann at the Foreign Office on 22 March 1917; two days later, Weizmann described the meeting as being "the first time I had a real business talk with him". Weizmann explained at the meeting that the Zionists had a preference for a British protectorate over Palestine, as opposed to an American, French or international arrangement; Balfour agreed, but warned that "there m…
Drafting
Declassification of British government archives has allowed scholars to piece together the choreography of the drafting of the declaration; in his widely cited 1961 book, Leonard Stein published four previous drafts of the declaration.
The drafting began with Weizmann's guidance to the Zionist drafting team on its objectives in a letter dated 20 June 1917, one day following his meeting with Rothschild and Balfour. He propos…
Key issues
The agreed version of the declaration, a single sentence of just 67 words, was sent on 2 November 1917 in a short letter from Balfour to Walter Rothschild, for transmission to the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland. The declaration contained four clauses, of which the first two promised to support "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people", follo…
Reaction
The text of the declaration was published in the press one week after it was signed, on 9 November 1917. Other related events took place within a short timeframe, the two most relevant being the almost immediate British military capture of Palestine and the leaking of the previously secret Sykes-Picot Agreement. On the military side, both Gaza and Jaffa fell within several days, and Jerusalem …
Historiography and motivations
Lloyd George and Balfour remained in government until the collapse of the coalition in October 1922. Under the new Conservative government, attempts were made to identify the background to and motivations for the declaration. A private Cabinet memorandum was produced in January 1923, providing a summary of the then-known Foreign Office and War Cabinet records leading up to the declaration. An accompanying Foreign Office note asserted that the primary authors of th…
Long-term impact
The declaration had two indirect consequences, the emergence of a Jewish state and a chronic state of conflict between Arabs and Jews throughout the Middle East. It has been described as the "original sin" with respect to both Britain's failure in Palestine and for wider events in Palestine. The statement also had a significant impact on the traditional anti-Zionism of religious Jews, some of whom saw it as divine providence; this contributed to the growth of religious Zionism am…
Background
World War I and Chaim Weizmann
- During World War I, Great Britain needed help. Since Germany (Britain's enemy during WWI) had cornered the production of acetone—an important ingredient for arms production—Great Britain may have lost the war if Chaim Weizmann had not invented a fermentation process that allowed the British to manufacture their own liquid acetone. It was this fermentation process that brough…
Diplomacy
- Weizmann's contact with Lloyd George and Balfour continued, even after Lloyd George became prime minister and Balfour was transferred to the Foreign Office in 1916. Additional Zionist leaders such as Nahum Sokolow also pressured Great Britain to support a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Although Balfour, himself, was in favor of a Jewish state, Great Britain particularly fav…
Announcing The Balfour Declaration
- Though the Balfour Declaration went through several drafts, the final version was issued on November 2, 1917, in a letter from Balfour to Lord Rothschild, president of the British Zionist Federation. The main body of the letter quoted the decision of the October 31, 1917, British Cabinet meeting. This declaration was accepted by the League of Nationson July 24, 1922, and …
The White Paper
- In 1939, Great Britain reneged on the Balfour Declaration by issuing the White Paper, which stated that creating a Jewish state was no longer a British policy. It was also Great Britain's change in policy toward Palestine, especially the White Paper, that prevented millions of European Jews to escape from Nazi-occupied Europe to Palestine before an...
I. The Conquest of Palestine
II. The Colonization of Palestine
III. The Zionist Mandate For Palestine
Conclusion
- The Balfour Declaration issued by the British government one century ago, on November 2, 1917, determined the course of British policy throughout the Mandate period—and well beyond. Its reverberations are still felt today in the violence we see in the Middle East today, and in the oppression of the Palestinians under the Israeli occupation of the W...
Afterword
References