INTERVIEW – UK must correct damage caused by Balfour Declaration: Palestinian envoy to Ireland

By Leila Nezirevic

LONDON (AA) – The UK has to take responsibility for its historic role in the Israel-Palestine issue and rectify the damage caused by the Balfour Declaration, according to Palestinian Ambassador to Ireland Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid.

In an interview with Anadolu, the ambassador also called on the UK to make efforts to halt Israel’s “vicious” war on the Gaza Strip.

“You have to think about how to correct this and support the right of the Palestinians,” she said, referring to the Balfour Declaration issued by the British government in 1917, which led to the establishment of Israel.

“This is our land and we have the right to be free. We have the right to live in peace in our land. This is our right to self-determination.”

The declaration, regarded as one of the most controversial documents in the modern history of the Arab world, is generally viewed as the main reason for the creation of Israel in 1948.

Palestinians call that the Nakba, Arabic for “catastrophe,” referring to the forced displacement of over 700,000 Palestinians from their homes and lands, and the destruction of their society, culture and identity.

The declaration, made in 1917 during World War I, was part of the terms of the British Mandate for Palestine.

Palestinians made up more than 90% of the entire population in Palestine at the time, while only 9% were Jews, according to historical records.

At the start of the mandate, the British government began to enable the immigration of European Jews to Palestine, with the aim of creating “a national home for the Jewish people” at the expense of the native Palestinians.

“You (the UK) have to correct what you did more than 100 years ago and to support Palestinians to have their own free state of Palestine,” Abdalmajid asserted.

Regarding Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza, she called on UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to respect the wishes of the millions of people who have been protesting in support of Palestine in London and other cities across the country.

She emphasized the importance of bringing the “voices of the British people to the official position of the British government and to support the Palestinians.”

“We are human beings and not less human beings than any other nation on this earth. We deserve freedom and we will continue our struggle for freedom,” she said.

- US, UK, EU nations permitting Israel's genocide

The ambassador pointed out that millions around the world have taken to the streets to protest Israel’s “barbaric war.”

“The problem is that when it comes to their governments, there is a different story,” she said.

She said some nations have recognized that Israel is not only violating international law, but rather violating “humanity itself in Gaza.”

However, the lack of response from the US, UK and EU really shocked Palestinians that humanity and the international community could fail us to such an extent, said Abdalmajid.

She said some countries in Europe go against everything that has to do with the Palestinian cause, but refused to name them, saying the world “knows who they are.”

Then we have France, Germany, Italy and others that have given their unconditional support to Israel to wage war on Gaza “without any framework or any constraints,” she said.

In other words, Israel has been given permission by the US, UK and EU nations to continue this “genocide and the killing of Palestinian people without any respect to international humanitarian law,” she said.

Some countries within the EU like Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Luxembourg had a very strong position toward Palestinians before the war, she said.

After the war, there have been “slight differences among those countries,” she said, but they support the call for immediate cease-fire, with Ireland leading on that front.

Ireland is one of the very few Western countries with a long history of supporting Palestine, becoming the first EU state to endorse Palestinian statehood in 1980.

For Abdalmajid, there is a parallel between the Palestinian and Irish struggle for freedom.

According to her, Ireland was subjected to a similar “apartheid system” that Palestinians have been facing since the creation of Israel.

The Irish people endured British colonialism for more than 800 years, “so they know exactly how Palestinians are really suffering from the occupation and from the colonization,” she added.

- ‘US a participant in war on Gaza’

Regarding the US, Abdalmajid said it has not just supported but has been actively participating in Israel’s deadly campaign in Gaza, which has now killed more than 23,200 people, most of them women and children.

“The United States not only supports (Israel), they participate in this war, they administrate this war against the Palestinians,” she asserted.

The international community in general failed the Palestinians, allowing these atrocities against innocent people “without putting in any practical effort to stop this war,” she said.

In a message to Washington in particular, she urged for the world to see the strength and resilience of Palestinians, specifically that they will continue to stand strong for their right to self-determination despite all the suffering.

The US must realize that the Palestinian people will never accept to be forcibly displaced and never allow a repeat of the 1948 Nakba, she said.

Referring to the current crisis as the “2023 Nakba,” the ambassador emphasized that Palestinians “will not be moving from our land.”

“This is our land. Our aspiration for freedom should be respected. Our aspiration for freedom to be in our state of Palestine should be respected. We have the right to self-determination and we have the right to be a free state,” she said.