Aquinnah's Middle East News

Halbfinger, David M. "Balfour Declaration of Support for Jewish Homeland Still
     Divisive at 100." The New York Times, New York Times Company, 2 Nov. 2017,
     www.nytimes.com/2017/11/02/world/middleeast/
     balfour-declaration-israel.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FIsrael&action=clic
     k&contentCollection=world®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&content
     Placement=1&pgtype=collection. Accessed 4 Nov. 2017.

The article, "Balfour Declaration of Support for Jewish Homeland Still Divisive at 100" is about  the continued controversy between Palestine and Israel due to the Declaration, even 100 years after it was created. There were many Palestinian protestors on the 100 year anniversary of the Declaration, proving that this declaration still remains controversial. The Balfour Declaration was the foundation of the creation of Israel, but did not give the Palestinians national or political rights. Palestinians refer to the declaration as that it "virtually buried the existence of the Palestinian people." Although the Balfour Declaration was not the cornerstone for the creation of Israel, it was, however, a deciding factor during the process of creating the country. Many argue that Palestine should have compromises with the Zionists instead of forbidding the immigration of Jewish people entirely. To continue, the declaration has not only spurred tensions between Israel and Palestine, but also some Sephardic Jews see the declaration as pointless and only spreading anger, since some enjoyed the close connections with the Arab people. Some feel that the declaration should be rewritten to give Palestinians a say and a home. The controversy of the Balfour Declaration is related to our class because we spent a large amount of time discussing the conflicts between Israel and Palestine, which the declaration was a huge factor in. Also, this article mentions how the Declaration did not become relevant until the Ottoman Empire was divided by the League of Nations, which we were also informed about.