Palestine Mulls Lawsuit Against Balfour Declaration

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki has voiced support for the notion of legally challenging the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which paved the way for the creation of Israel in 1948.



"We will open the file on Israeli crimes committed [against the Palestinians] since the end of the British Mandate in Palestine [in 1948]," al-Maliki said Monday, speaking at the opening session of an Arab League summit in Mauritanian capital Nouakchott.



"We will remain united until we bring an end to the [Israeli] occupation of our land and holy places," he asserted.



Al-Maliki was speaking at the summit on behalf of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who did not attend the event due to his brother's recent death.



Some date the beginning of the Israel-Palestine conflict to the 1917 Balfour Declaration, in which the British government articulated its support for "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people".



In 1948, a new state -- "Israel" -- was established inside historical Palestine.



The creation of the Jewish state was accompanied by the death of some 15,000 Palestinians and the displacement of an estimated 800,000 others, while 531 Arab villages were destroyed in attacks by armed Jewish groups.



The incident led to a Palestinian diaspora, with Palestinian refugees now scattered across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and other countries. Many have since settled in refugee camps in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip.



According to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), there are currently more than 5 million registered Palestinian refugees.



For many Palestinians, the right to return to their homes in historical Palestine constitutes more than just a political demand, but a fundamental human right. -