Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 02-11-2017
The National Coalition for Palestine (NC4P) says, while many people in solidarity with Israel will be celebrating the centenary of the Balfour declaration, the world should express sadness and pray for the end of the oppression against the Palestinian people.
Palestinians around the world are marking 100 years since the Balfour Declaration was issued on November 2, 1917.
The declaration turned the Zionist aim of establishing a Jewish state in Palestine into a reality when Britain publicly pledged to establish “a national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine.
The pledge is generally viewed as one of the main catalysts of the Nakba – the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948 – and the conflict that ensued with the Zionist state of Israel.
It is regarded as one of the most controversial and contested documents in the modern history of the Arab world and has puzzled historians for decades.
NC4P’s Reverend Edwin Arrison says it’s a sad day for Palestinians and their supporters across the world.
“It is with great sadness and hope that we are approaching this particular matter. We should be sad today, and then of course the practical things are about educating people about what this is about.”
Arrison says the march by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) to the Israeli Embassy in Pretoria to mark the centenary of the Balfour Declaration sends a message that the Palestinian crisis must be resolved as soon as possible.
He says the NC4P has sent a letter expressing its solidarity with the party.
“I think it’s very courageous for them actually for them to do it and they are the one party that are really standing up for the rights of Palestinian people.”
Arrison says while it’s very concerning that the Zionist Christian Church (ZCC) leadership visited Israel as guests of Pro-Israeli groups in South Africa, the visit by the ZCC and other parties and orgnisations shows desperation by those that want to promote Israeli hasbara.
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