Ya Libnan

Thousands march in London to condemn Balfour celebrations

Share:

anti balfour demonstrationThousands of protesters came together in London on Saturday to condemn the British government’s celebration of the centenary of the Balfour Declaration as well as its warm welcome to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Protesters responded to the call of organisers namely; the Palestinian Forum of Britain (PFB), the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (PSC), Friends of Al-Aqsa (FOA) and the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) as well as the “Stop The War” coalition for a march of condemnation.

Chair of the PFB, Hafez Al-Karmi commended the response from the British public through the large turnout which denounced the decision of actions of Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May to “proudly” celebrate the Balfour Declaration and establishment of the Israeli settler-colonial state.

The march which started from outside the US embassy proceeded through London’s busiest streets, passing by Downing Street and ended at Parliament Square.

Tens of Pro-Israel supporters attempted to obstruct the march but the heavy police presence prevented any clashes and ensured the safety of the protesters.

The marchers listened to speeches from a number of Palestinian and British personalities both in front of the US embassy and Parliament Square. Many union leaders as well as politicians and community leaders from the British, Jewish, Muslim, and Palestinian communities were present.

Deputy chair for the PFB Zaher Birawi told the rally that British Prime Minister Theresa May’s celebration of the Balfour Declaration was equivalent to “celebrating a crime of theft.” Birawi added that the Balfour Declaration remains invalid and everything that has come as a result of it is also invalid.

Mustafa Barghouti, chair of the Palestinian National Initiative in Palestine was among the speakers at the march. Other speakers included the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, as well as representatives of Palestinian youth organisations in the UK such as Maisara Al-Arabeed from PFB and Yahya Abu Seido from Olive. Marchers also received a recorded message from the leader of the opposition Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn; he reaffirmed his support for the unfulfilled Palestinian rights mentioned that the Balfour Declaration, noting that it cannot be celebrated by the UK unless a Palestinian state is founded.

Adnan Hmidan, media representative for PFB pointed out that Theresa May’s celebratory comments on the Balfour Declaration not only resulted in a protest and march but also resulted in a turnout beyond all expectation and triggered a huge outcry among protesters, bringing Arab and English communities together in support of Palestinian rights.

Britain’s opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn also expressed solidarity with the protesters in a video message.
MEM

Share:

Comments

24 responses to “Thousands march in London to condemn Balfour celebrations”

  1. Rascal Avatar
    Rascal

    To all the Palestinians that live in the west, be glad you do not live under the oppressive Islamic dictators of Hamas or the corrupt PA, enjoy western freedom. To the leftists and bleeding hearts, maybe pay some attention to the Arab/Farsi genocide going on in Syria, or is half a million dead somehow ok?

    1. Omega Avatar
      Omega

      Wonderful non sequitur aimed at diverting from the crimes committed by the Zionist Jews since 1948.

      Where do you place the theft of Palestinian lands since 1948 (which on-going to date), the displacements of upwards of 800K people, their oppression since 1948, etc?

      Do tell.

      1. Rascal Avatar
        Rascal

        Aimed at bringing attention to more important issues. And yes, Syria and the unfolding total war in the ME is a tad larger issue. There are 10 tens more dead burnt babies and poison gas attacks if anyone gives a damn.

        1. Omega Avatar
          Omega

          Aimed at diverting; period.

          But should you really care about the cause of the war in Syria: http://theduran.com/former-qatar-prime-minister-qatar-saudi-arabia-turkey-and-usa-colluded-and-coordinated-to-fund-al-qaeda-and-destroy-syria/

          I know you climax at the idea of a total war in the ME but it won’t happen. There is a consolidation of power through major shake downs which is leading to a balance in power.

  2. Y K Avatar
    Y K

    The list of crappy outfits behind this “mass protest” of three (3) thousand Islamonazis is quite impressive, actually. 🙂

    1. Omega Avatar
      Omega

      “Islamos” were not Hitler’s personal driver, his staff officers and didn’t fight along side with him. Jews were/did.

      “Islamos” don’t pretend to descend from an imaginary people. Nazis claimed they descended from Aryans. Israelis claim they descend from Hebrews.

      1. Y K Avatar
        Y K

        “Islamo(s)” sounds really stupid for an invented word, pal. Is it a combination of Latino(s) and Islamist(s)?

        1. Omega Avatar
          Omega

          It derives from your “Islamonazi” stupidity.

  3. Hannibal Avatar
    Hannibal

    The ENTIRE WORLD is waking up… Tick tock
    First ISIS is no more, ZIoSIS is next.

    1. Y K Avatar
      Y K

      Final victory is always just round the corner for the Arabs and their Nazi supporters. And then Allah (aka reality) pulls down his pants and drops a huge steamy one on their faces. 🙂

      1. Hannibal Avatar
        Hannibal

        Please do not speak about G_D that way. What sorrow awaits you…

        1. Y K Avatar
          Y K

          I piss on you and on whatever idol you’re worshipping, pal. In any case, your moon god (or devil) ain’t mine. Capisce?

          1. Hannibal Avatar
            Hannibal

            There is no G_D BUT G_D and he is the G_D of Abraham, David, Jesus AND Mohammad and everything that lived and lives including the low life fart bag YK who is made of piss and sh!t and dwells in the sewers.
            What sorrow awaits you… blasphemer.

          2. Y K Avatar
            Y K

            Your Aflaqist theology for dummies is truly pathetic, pal. Better stick to your “long nose” jokes. They are way funnier. 🙂

          3. Hannibal Avatar
            Hannibal

            and remember this… An excruciating pain awaits you soon unless you repent.

  4. Jack Avatar
    Jack

    The pro-Palestinian organizations from around England had been talking the rally up and planning it for months, it was hard to ignore the disappointment of many involved that only a few thousand people attended……..

    Even the Muslims in the UK are tired of this Palestinian bullshit.

    1. Omega Avatar
      Omega

      You entitle yourself to speak for all the Muslims in the Uk now?

      Have you found war documents attesting of the Jewish death toll in WW2 yet? What about forensic evidence about thy so-called gas chambers? Anything?

  5. Niemals Avatar
    Niemals

    The national liberation, almost every national liberation, exacted a heavy toll. Populations were relocated, usually forcibly, to give the idea of national liberation some substance.

    Several months before the Balfour Declaration, French Foreign Ministry official Jules Cambon sent a letter to Zionist leader Nahum Sokolow, stating that “it would be a deed of justice and of reparation to assist, by the protection of the Allied Powers, in the renaissance of the Jewish nationality in that Land from which the people of Israel were exiled so many centuries ago.” Britain had coordinated with France and the United States before making the declaration.

    Two months after the Balfour Declaration, US President Woodrow Wilson issued his Fourteen Points, which were linked by the right to self-determination.
    In other worlds, recognizing the right of each community that had been under imperial rule to independence, freedom and sovereignty.
    The idea of national liberation and of a nation state is an anti-imperial idea. It’s true that in the current era, the post-national and anti-national voices are echoing again, even in little Israel, but these voices appear to suffer from a weak historical memory.

    Zionism was a national movement, one of many, which jumped on the bandwagon of the same idea, just like the top representatives of the Arab world sought sovereignty and independence based on the same idea.
    Unlike other people, who were a national minority under a give territory, the Jews were a national minority under many states and empires.

    There was one moment in history, immediately after the Balfour Declaration, when the Jewish nationality and Arab nationality even shared joint interests.

    This was reflected in the Faisal –
    Weizmann Agreement, which was signed in 1919.

    In an article published just a few days ago, Prof. Efraim Karsh elaborates on the Arab and Muslim acceptance of the Balfour Declaration and the Jewish nationality idea.

    Even Talaat Pasha, one of the rulers of the declining Ottoman Empire, which turned into the Turkish nation state, expressed support for the Jewish right to a national home in Palestine.

    The main argument presented by the Balfour Declaration opponents is that it ignores the national aspirations of the area’s residents.
    That’s inaccurate. First of all, the Balfour Declaration itself forbids causing them any harm. Second, their national aspirations were honored as part of the Arab state which the Arab leaders those days, including Emir Faisal, wanted to establish on most parts of the Middle East.

    Five years after the Balfour Declaration, after it had already been adopted by the League of Nations, another decision was made, to establish another entity –
    Transjordan – on lands governed by the British mandate that were allotted to the Jewish state.

    Another partition took place in 1947, and the western side of the Jordan River was divided between the Jewish Yishuv and Palestine’s Arab residents.

    Their national right was honored. It was implemented in all neighboring states. This recognition applied also to those who later became Palestinian.

    But the Arab world itself prevented the implementation of this right.
    The lands were in its possession.
    There was no occupation.
    Yet no Palestinian state was created from 1949 to 1967.
    So the claim that Palestine’s residents were ignored is groundless.

    It’s true that there was a Nakba.

    Palestinians fled and were expelled.
    It happened in almost every national conflict, and it happened to the Palestinians also because of the Arab rejection of any compromise, especially the Partition Plan.

    The claims of injustice suffered by Palestine’s Arab residents because of the Balfour Declaration should be looked into on the background of the reality and norms in the first half of the 20th century.

    Hundreds of millions of people have gained national liberation and independence, and tens of millions experienced some kind of “Nakba,” including the Jewish Nakba of Jews in Arab countries.
    The historical context shouldn’t prevent a solution to the conflict. On the contrary, it will put the conflict in its real place.

  6. Danny Farah Avatar
    Danny Farah

    And I wish all Lebanese will march against the influence of Iran, Saudis and Hezbollah and Assad. Can we do that? I think not you bunch of cowards. Lots of traitors in Lebanon who sides with their own religion affiliations and they are fixated on the old leaders who they pay homage to and can’t seem to get out of that spell.

Leave a Reply