Declaration Of The Balfour And The Endless War Of Israel

The war between Hamas and Israel broke out last weekend after the Palestinian paramilitary force fired thousands of rockets at Israel. It was reported by Reuters that 5,000 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel on Saturday (7/10/2023).

The Israeli Ministry of Health claims at least 779 people were injured and taken to hospital. The Hamas attack is now the largest crisis in the region since the 10-day battle in 2021. In fact, this is called the worst bloodshed in 75 years of conflict.

Tensions between Israel and Hamas have been going on for years. But the Hamas attack on Saturday came without warning.

Observers think the attack has been carefully planned by Hamas. On the other hand, Israel is considered to have failed to anticipate the planned attack by Palestinian militants.

"Of course there are preparations, because Israel's defense and security system is known to be tight and up-to-date. The guardrail they built is equipped with a 24-hour monitoring camera and is equipped with a motion sensor," Middle Eastern observer Faisal Assegaf told VOI, Monday, October 9.

"But the success of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad forces through land, sea and air attacks shows the intelligence breach and Israel's defense system," he explained.

What has happened in Palestine now has also happened decades ago. Palestine and Israel. One land, two names. Palestine and Israel have not had a harmonious relationship since decades ago. Conflict occurs because the two countries claim the same territory, namely Palestine.

Looking back, this Palestinian Israeli dispute is motivated by the Balfour Declaration. Balfour's declaration was an open statement issued by the British Government in 1917 during the First World War.

Balfour was taken from the name of British Foreign Minister (1916-1919), Lord Arthur Balfour, who wrote the open letter to Lord Rothschild, who is the leader of the British Jewish community.

The content of the Balfour Declaration, which contains only three paragraphs with 76 words, is a form of support from the United Kingdom for the ideology of Zionism to establish a national homeland for Jews in Palestine.

The Balfour declaration was made as a hidden political strategy to win World War I. Britain hopes for political and financial support from the Jewish community in fighting the Central Block in World War I.

In short, it was the release of the Balfour Declaration that legitimized the massive migration of Jews to Palestinian soil. The Balfour declaration smoothed the way for Zionists to annex Palestinian territory into Israeli land for Jews.

Quoted by Al Jazeera, Balfour's declaration is considered one of the most controversial documents in the history of the Arab world. Not only that, this document has also confused historians for decades.

The next story is as we know it today. After Britain facilitated Jewish immigration to Palestine, between 1922 and 1935 the Jewish population in Palestine increased. Of only 9 percent, the number of Jews rose to nearly 27 percent of the total population.

In 1939 Britain realized it had made a mistake and they handed over Palestinian cases to the United Nations. Eight years later, the United Nations decided that the Palestinian territories were divided into two separate countries, namely the Jews and the Palestinian Arabs. Meanwhile, Jerusalem was established in an international surveillance status.

This arrangement was accepted by Jewish leaders. But on the other hand, the Arab people have refused and have never been implemented until now.

The UN decision in 1947 did not solve the problem either. The situation between Palestine and Israel is heating up. Finally in 1948 the British rulers ended their mandate in Palestine and they left, but Jewish leaders remained behind and instead declared the state of Israel.

This unilateral declaration was rejected by Palestinians to the point of war. The Zionist military forces expelled at least 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and lands and seized 78 percent of the Palestinian historic territories, as quoted by Al Jazeera. The remaining 22 percent is divided into areas that are now occupied West Bank and the trapped Gaza Strip.

By Palestinians around the world, this event is then called Al Nakba and is commemorated every May 15 every year.

To date, after more than a century since the Balfour Declaration, land annexation has continued. This creates a wave of mass expulsion, murder, and human rights abuses.

There is no bright spot yet on the prolonged conflict involving Palestine and Israel.