Palestinian president plans to sue Britain over 1917 Balfour Declaration and support for 'Israeli crimes'
The Palestinian president has announced his intention to sue the British Government over a 1917 declaration that paved the way for the creation of Israel.
Mahmoud Abbas’ statement, delivered in his absence by foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki, was given at the opening of this week’s Arab League summit in Mauritania.
It called on other states in the alliance to help the Palestinian government launch a lawsuit against the UK over the Balfour Declaration and the subsequent creation of Israel in 1948.
Mr Abbas accused Britain of supporting “Israeli crimes” since the end of the Mandate for Palestine, and claimed the country was among the parties responsible for the exodus of Palestinian refugees.
“Nearly a century has passed since the issuance of the Balfour Declaration in 1917,” his statement said according to a transcript published by the Wafa news agency.
“And based on this ill-omened promise hundreds of thousands of Jews were moved from Europe and elsewhere to Palestine at the expense of our Palestinian people whose parents and grandparents had lived for thousands of years on the soil of their homeland.”
Mr al-Maliki told delegates in Nouakchott the lawsuit would be filed in an international court but did not give further details.
Source: independent.co.uk
