Israel’s Ambassador to the U.K. Mark Regev and former Director General of Israel’s Foreign Ministry, Dore Gold will be attending a House of Commons event in defense of the historic Balfour Declaration, which is being challenged by the Palestinian leadership.
By Shlomo Cesana
Former Foreign Ministry Director General Dore Gold (pictured above) and Israeli Ambassador to the U.K. Mark Regev were expected to speak in the House of Commons on Tuesday at an event called “Refuting Balfour’s Detractors.” The event comes 99 years after British Foreign Secretary Lord Arthur James Balfour wrote his historic letter stating that his government views “with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.”
In July, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki said the Palestinian Authority would file a lawsuit against the United Kingdom over the 1917 letter, considered a major diplomatic milestone in the history of the Zionist movement.
Portrait of Lord Balfour, along with his famous declaration. – Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
In the wake of Malki’s statement, the pro-Palestinian group Palestinian Return Center launched the “Balfour Apology Campaign” in October at an event held in the House of Lords.
“As the 100th year since the Balfour Declaration approaches, the Palestinian Return Center has decided to relaunch its campaign which started in 2013, called Balfour Apology Campaign, which asks the U.K. government to officially apologize for its past colonial crimes in Palestine,” the center said. The center has been accused by Israel of being linked to Hamas, but has denied any ties to the terrorist organization.
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“The event is designed to note the ramifications of the Palestinian demand to nullify the Balfour Declaration, as well as to expose the Palestinian organization for what it really is,” Gold said on Monday. “Today, the EU considers Hamas a terrorist organization, and Hamas also helps Islamic State operate in Sinai. The campaign against the Balfour Declaration is part of the diplomatic warfare being waged against Israel and the current assault on the declaration is part of the ongoing Palestinian refusal to recognize the rights of the Jewish people, including the right to establish their own national home.”
Other participants who were scheduled to participate in the event Tuesday were Professor Andrew Roberts, a historian and journalist; Alan Baker, the former Israeli ambassador to Canada who served as legal adviser to the Foreign Ministry; and Dr. Yair Hirschfeld, a scholar from the University of Haifa known for his role in the negotiations leading to the Oslo Accords in 1993. The event is being hosted by Michael Gove, a member of parliament and a former justice minister.
View original Israel Hayom publication at:
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=38385
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