Text: Balfour Centenary Declaration

Nov 2nd, 2017

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The following 'Balfour Centenary Declaration - Israel/Palestine: Equal Rights' signed by politicians, diplomats and faith leaders, was launched in Parliament on Tuesday, ahead of a conference at Westminster Central Hall, attended by more than 1,200 people.(see link to report below) The full text of the Declaration follows:

The centenary of the Balfour Declaration is the time to reconcile peace with justice for both Israelis and Palestinians, consistent with the principle Britain claims as her own: equal rights for all under the law.

Through the Declaration of 2 November 1917 the British Government decided to facilitate "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people", on the explicit understanding that "nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine".

In 1917, and until Britain gave up her Mandate for Palestine in 1948, the Palestinian people were in the majority, as they had been for centuries. The Mandate conferred on Britain a "sacred trust of civilisation" to help the people of Palestine towards self-determination and nationhood. In 1948 the Government handed the problem to the United Nations, and withdrew - but the legacy of that period is still with us. There was joy and sanctuary in Israel for the Jewish people surviving the horrific Holocaust - but pain and despair for the Palestinians: many expelled in 1948, and more occupied in 1967.

Israel, created in 1948 as the permanent national home of the Jewish people, is recognised as a state by Britain, the EU, the US and - crucially - the PLO, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. Israel's prosperity and military strength have grown. But Israel's 50 year military occupation of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem prevents the Palestinian people from exercising their own equal and inalienable right to self-determination, a right endorsed by the UN, the EU and our Government.

This occupation dehumanises both the occupier and the occupied. One people is repressing their neighbouring people, by closing Gaza militarily and transferring 600,000 Israeli settlers illegally into occupied Palestinian territory. Change is urgently needed, delivering equal rights for both peoples.

We condemn violence from any quarter. But conducting and resisting occupation inevitably mean chronic and sustained violence, stemming from the repression of a people. Inequality does not bring lasting security and prosperity.

In the best interests of both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, and in our own national interest, we urge our Government to

recognise immediately the State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel on the basis of the pre-June 1967 borders, as two thirds of UN members have done;

uphold rigorously the Geneva Conventions which Britain co-wrote and ratified after World War ll;

give practical effect to the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions, the Arab Peace Initiative and the Quartet Roadmap which Britain has endorsed;

require genuine freedom of worship without hindrance for all believers - Jewish, Muslim and Christian - at their holy sites in Jerusalem;
encourage West Bank/Gaza reunification on the basis of PLO agreements;

work with like-minded partners, including France, Germany, Sweden, Belgium and Ireland, to respect and safeguard the rights of both Palestinians and Israelis, with due and proportionate consequences for breaches of those rights, alongside incentives for those seeking to uphold them.

Ending the 1967 occupation through negotiation will realise the acknowledged right of the Palestinian people to self-determination; a right gained by Israel 70 years ago. The political and economic cost/benefit calculations of those who oppose this outcome must be challenged. Establishing the Palestinian state, with sustainable international security guarantees both for it and for Israel, will help to stabilise the Middle East region and enhance our own security. The opposite is also true. This inequality supplies oxygen to the propagandists of Islamic State, and contributes to radicalisation both abroad and at home.

We commit ourselves to work for a secure future of equal rights and peaceful coexistence between the citizens of Israel and Palestine in two states along pre-June 1967 lines. We support the majorities on both sides of that border who see this outcome as just.

Britain should uphold her core values by taking the lead to address this bitter, harmful conflict. The Government of the day took a decision in 1917. We now need to acknowledge what is right, and exert political influence to achieve it - for our own good, and the good of the two peoples who will share the Holy Land forever.

Signatories

Rt Hon Jack Straw
Crispin Blunt MP
Tracy Brabin MP
Rt Hon Tom Brake MP
Alan Brown MP
Richard Burden MP
Ruth Cadbury MP
Rt Hon Alistair Carmichael MP
Sarah Champion MP
Joanna Cherry QC, MP
Julie Elliott MP
Rt Hon Dominic Grieve MP
Rt Hon David Jones MP
Graham Jones MP
Pauline Latham MP
Seema Malhotra MP
Lisa Nandy MP
Chi Onwurah MP
Tommy Sheppard MP
Paula Sherriff MP
Andy Slaughter MP
Rt Hon Sir Nicholas Soames MP
Bob Stewart MP
Rt Hon Sir Hugo Swire MP
Dr Philippa Whitford MP

Rt Rev Christopher Chessun, Bishop of Southwark
Lord Alderdice
Baroness Blackstone
Rt Hon Lord Bruce of Bennachie
Rt Hon Lord Cope of Berkeley
Lord Green of Deddington
Lord Griffiths of Burry Port
Rt Hon Lord Hain
Lord Hollick
Lord Hylton
Lord Judd
Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws
Rt Hon Marquess of Lothian
Duke of Montrose
Baroness Morris of Bolton
Rt Hon Baroness Northover
Lord Purvis of Tweed
Baroness Sheehan
Rt Hon Lord Steel of Aikwood
Rt Hon Lord Warner
Rt Hon Baroness Warsi
Lord Wright of Richmond

Prof James Allan - Emeritus Professor of Eastern Art, University of Oxford
Sir Tony Brenton - Ambassador to Russia (ret'd)
Rev Iain Cunningham - Convenor, World Mission Council, Church of Scotland
Lady Ellen Dahrendorf
Sir Richard Dalton - Ambassador to Iran and Consul-General, Jerusalem (ret'd)
Sir Terence English - Surgeon and former Master, St Catherine's College, Cambridge
Sir Vincent Fean - Consul-General, Jerusalem and Ambassador to Libya (ret'd)
Rev. Richard Frazer - Convenor, Church and Society Council, Church of Scotland
Dr Imad Karam - Executive Director, Initiatives of Change International
Robin Kealy - Ambassador to Tunisia and Consul-General, Jerusalem (ret'd)
Stuart Laing - Master, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Ivan McKee - Member of the Scottish Parliament
Peter Oborne - author and journalist
Sir William Patey - Ambassador to Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia (ret'd)
Prof Avi Shlaim - Emeritus Professor of International Relations, University of Oxford
Sir Harold Walker - Ambassador to Iraq (ret'd)
Sir Peter Westmacott - Ambassador to the United States (ret'd)
Sandra White - Member of the Scottish Parliament