بمناسبة مرور 99 عاما علي وعد بلفور المشؤوم وجه الاتحاد العام للجاليات الفلسطينية في اوروبا رسالة الي وزارة الخارجية البريطانية وضح فيها ما هي عواقب هذا الوعد المشؤوم الذي اعطي وزير الخارجية البريطاني ان ذاك آرثر جيمس بلفور بتاريخ 2 نوفمبر 1917 إلى اللورد ليونيل وولتر دي روتشيلد يشير فيها إلى تأييد الحكومة البريطانية إنشاء وطن قومي لليهود في فلسطين و ان الشعب الفلسطيني عاني وما زال يعاني جراء دعم المملكة المتحدة لاسرائيل وما نتج عن هذا الوعد المشؤوم طول سنين الاحتلال من قتل ومصادرة اراضي وحصار وتهجبر وان اكثر من 70 في المئة من الشعب الفلسطيني اصبح لاجئا.
وطالب الاتحاد المملكة المتحدة بالوقوف امام مسؤليتها التاريخية والقانونية والاخلاقية عن الاضرار التي لحقت بالشعب الفلسطيني نتيجة هذا القرار المشؤوم.
كما طالب الاتحاد المملكة المتحدة بالاعتراف بالدولة الفلسطينية المستقلة علي حدود الرابع من حزبران 1967 وعاصمتها القدس الشرقية وازالة جميع المستوطنات وحق الفلسطينيين في العودة الي الديار التي هجروا منها.
وهنا نص الرسالة باللغة الانجليزية:
HE Boris Johnson
Minister for Foreign Affairs
The Foreign & Commonwealth Office
King Charles St, Whitehall
London SW1A 2AH
November 2, 2016
Dear Mr Johnson,
We in the General Union for the Palestinian Communities in Europe (GUPCE) are writing to you regarding the 99th anniversary of Balfour Declaration.
The Balfour Declaration, as it is known, was a 1917 short letter (67 words) from British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Lord Rothschild, head of the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland, promising the establishment of a Jewish home in Palestine. The statement of the Declaration read as:
“His Majesty’s Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”
While this promise initially stated that Britain would “endeavour” to facilitate a national home for Jews in Palestine, later governments codified the pledge into the country’s foreign policy.
The effects and consequences of this declaration might be history for the UK, but for Palestinians, they are as prevalent today as they were 99 years ago. The Declaration marked the beginning of almost a century of injustice and Palestinian suffering: massacres, land confiscation, displacement, camps (over 70% of Palestinians are refugees), blockades, settlements, and many more painful memories. As result of this, the whole region has been and is still facing chaos.
We at the (GUPCE) believe that the UK cannot continue to avoid its historic responsibility in Palestine, we ask the British government to acknowledge its historic, legal and moral responsibility for damages sustained as a result of the implementation of the this declaration, to take vital steps to stop this injustice, and commit to protecting and advancing the political, civil, and national rights of the Palestinian people, including recognising the State of Palestine based on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, the dismantle of the settlements and the right for the Palestinian People to return to their land.
Best Regards
Mazen Ramahi
President of the executive committee of the General Union for the Palestinian Communities in Europe
