Thursday (November 2) marks 100 years since the Balfour Declaration, a letter written by the then UK foreign secretary Arthur James Balfour to prominent British Jew, Lord Walter Rothschild, which led to the birth of the State of Israel.<br /><br />The 1917 letter stated the UK government’s desire to establish in Palestine a national home for the Jewish people.<br /><br />Palestinians want Britain to apologise for what it says is an injustice done to the Palestinian Arabs, however the British government is commemorating the anniversary “with pride.”<br /><br />British Prime Minister Theresa May has described the Balfour Declaration as “one of the most important letters in history.”<br /><br />“It demonstrates Britain’s vital role in creating a homeland for the Jewish people,” May said in December 2016 at a business lunch for the Conservative Friends of Israel (CSI).<br /><br />May described Israel as a thriving democracy, a beacon of tolerance, an engine of enterprise.<br /><br />“For it is only when you walk through Jerusalem or Tel Aviv that you see a country where people of all religions and sexualities are free and equal in the eyes of the law,” May said. <br /><br />Palestinians, who have spent recent years seeking recognition for their state at international institutions, are demanding British accountability. They have threatened to sue Britain over the declaration.<br />
