Resheq demands British gov’t to apologize openly for Balfour declaration

Resheq demands British gov’t to apologize openly for Balfour declaration

DAMASCUS — Ezzat Al-Reshsq, a member of Hamas political bureau, called on the British government to apologize outright to the Palestinian people for the crime committed by its former minister of foreign affairs Arthur Balfour against Palestine and its people.

In a press release, Resheq said that in 1917, Balfour committed a crime that violated all political, legal and moral norms by pledging to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

He highlighted the then British mandate translated its pledge practically through encouraging the immigration of Jews to Palestine, facilitating settlement activities and providing cover for Zionist gangs to commit horrific massacres against the Palestinian people, adding all this led to the 1948 Nakba (catastrophe).

The Hamas official called on the British government to atone for its wrongdoing through enabling Palestinian refugees to return to their homes they were forced to abandon in 1948 and help them to restore their usurped rights.

The official noted that the Palestinian people and their legal and humanitarian institutions in the world have the right to file lawsuits with international courts against the British government for issuing the Balfour declaration.

Resheq also emphasized the Palestinian people’s right to resist the occupation by all means until they liberate their land and restore their usurped rights, pointing out that the resistance against the occupation is a right guaranteed by heavenly as well as international law.