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- Title
THE BALFOUR DECLARATION.
- Authors
YAMAÇ, Müzehher; CARTMILL, Hazel
- Abstract
As the Balfour Declaration approaches its centennial, it remains one of the most significant and controversial documents in recent British foreign policy, for its lasting impact on the Middle East and British diplomatic relations. The decision to officially declare sympathy for the Zionist aspiration to establish a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine was as divisive at the time as it is today; with detractors arguing against it as idealistic, anti-Semitic and strategically unwise. Yet, in the opposition's preoccupation with arguing against the publically espoused moral reasons for supporting Zionism, they invariably failed to comprehend the underlying pragmatic machinations behind Lloyd George's collaboration with the Zionists in the midst of the stalling war effort. This miscalculation rendered the opposition voices powerless, and British support of the Jewish settlement of Palestine quickly became a reality. Whilst the British Empire gradually declined in global influence in the years following the First World War, its influence lived on in the legacy of the war-time contingency policy for Palestine, which led the groundwork for the establishment of a Zionist state in 1947. This article discusses some of the competing claims made about Arthur Balfour's 'interesting experiment' in order to better understand the motivations of the British government at the time, why opposition to the plan failed, as well as understand the legacy of the Balfour Declaration for British foreign policy in the region today.
- Publication
Balkan Journal of Social Sciences / Balkan Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 2018, Vol 7, Issue 13, p135
- ISSN
1309-9841
- Publication type
Article