The Wording of the Balfour Agreement

In the early 20^th century, what had become the British territory of Palestine had been taken from the collapsing Ottoman Empire. An agreement was made by the British government to create a Jewish nation from the land called the Balfour Agreement.

It was on November 2, 1917, when the Balfour Declaration made clear British intent. It is not convoluted wording made difficult to decipher. But clearly written.

One source of many giving the full text of the Balfour Declaration is the Jewish Virtual Library:

Foreign Office
November 2nd, 1917

Dear Lord Rothschild,

I have much pleasure in conveying to you. on behalf of His Majesty’s Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet

His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.

I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.

Yours,

Arthur James Balfour

That is the entirety of the Balfour Declaration, made not by just one person, but on behalf of the Cabinet, which meant it was approved by the British government. It was a short document that made clear the intent for Palestine was to be a Jewish state, and only a Jewish state.

Yes, guarantees of non-Jewish communities in Palestine were expected to be legally protected. And has been happening in Israel ever since her delayed birth through the fires of war. Unlike other nations in the region, Israel does have minority communities who are not just legally protected, but in all professions in the small nation without anything limiting them, except themselves.

Only Israel legally protects all Israelis, which includes Arab Christians and Muslims. All other nations in the region have no such protections in place. Not just for Christians and Jews, but other Muslims as well. The wrong type of Muslim in those Islamic nations is not accepted nor allowed to freely worship.

Nothing in the Balfour Declaration calls for a second state from Palestine, which is how Jordan came to be via the United Nations for the first two-state solution. It calls only for a singular Jewish state in Palestine.

Had the British carried through with the Declaration in 1917, it would have saved millions of lives, since Jewish people fleeing Nazis would have had someplace to go.

It not only would have saved lives, but protected Arab minorities in what was the whole of Palestine, which did not happen with the creation of Jordan. Jordan was created to be an Islamic dictatorship where all Jews were forced out, along with Arab Christians and Muslims, since they were the wrong types of Muslims.

Had the British fallen through, there would have been some violence, but not as much as there was after the Nazis came to power and spread anti-Jewish propaganda used to create a hatred Jews.

Prior to the Nazis propaganda, Jews and Muslims were living in relative peace in cities like Baghdad. Jewish people were living there for thousands of years, going all the way back to about 600 BC/BCE in relative peace with those who came and went during that time.

After Balfour, there was no serious increase in violence, other than what was already happening. It would be only after the Nazis extended their propaganda influence outside Europe to Arabia. the Middle East, and North Africa. Yes, there was some violence predating the Nazis rise, but nothing on the scale of what their propaganda brought.

The wording of the Balfour Agreement makes clear the intent of the British government to create a Jewish nation from their territory of Palestine. The words used gives no room to claim anything else, other than a Jewish nation where the rights of all are protected.

Despite the significant loss of land from the UN’s two-state solution creating Israel and Jordan, the Arab wars seeking to destroy Israel, the terrorist attacks targeting civilians, etc., Israel has never stopped protecting the minority communities in their nation. They have followed through with the Balfour Agreement in guaranteeing protections for all Israelis.