Ramallah (UNA-OIC) – The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday that diplomatic efforts are underway to get Britain’s apology to the Palestinian people for the infamous Balfour Declaration.
In a statement, Political Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Al-Deek said Britain’s apology is an integral part of its recognition of its responsibility for the declaration, and for the resulting displacement and blight that befell the Palestinian people.
Al-Deek called for the United Kingdom to take the initiative to recognize the State of Palestine as another part of “its compensation for this sin and aggression it committed against our people and the suffering and historical injustice that is still ongoing.”
He added that recognizing the state of Palestine would be the beginning to correct the course of the unjust Balfour Declaration, and would help and empower the Palestinian people to obtain their just and legitimate national rights, including the right to return, self-determination, and an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The Palestinian official noted that the decision of President Mahmoud Abbas to fly at half-mast the national flag at the institutions, embassies, and representations of the State of Palestine came in condemnation of the Balfour Declaration to remind the whole world, particularly the UK, of the need to assume responsibility to enable the Palestinian people of their rights.
