A member of the Royal family maybe visiting Israel in an official capacity later this year, on the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, according to British media reports.Though members of the royal family have travelled to Israel in the past on personal visits,an official visit of this kind would be a historic first, and would mean breaking decades of precedent in which invitations to visit have been previously rejected.
President Reuven Rivlin extended the invitation at a meeting with British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in Jerusalem last week, citing the importance of the Balfour centenary. According to Whitehall sources, such a visit could take place this year, the Independent reported.http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/palestinian-campaign-israel-royal-visit-israel-netanyahu-israel-prince-charles-a7620251.html
The invitation comes on the 100 years anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.On November 2, 1917, the then British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour wrote a letter in what is now known as the Balfour Declaration in what is considered to be the first political recognition of the Zionist aims by a foreign government. This cursed declaration, by means of which those who had no ownership (Britain) permitted those who had no right to establish a national homeland on an established country Palestine, inevitably bought about a promise that marked the beginning of confiscation of the Palestinians homeland and displacement of its people. I personally believe it is time not for Royal visits but a moment that my rulers apologise about this historical injustice which Britain committed against the Palestinian people.
UK Foreign Secretary Lord Arthur Balfour
Palestinians believe the Balfour Declaration marked the beginning of a series of moves by the British government in Palestine, which facilitated Jewish migration in Palestine, which initiated a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Palestine in 1947-8, which led to the displacement of some 750,000 Palestinians.The population of Palestinian refugees today currently stands at 6,000,000 and their issue is considered the longest standing in the world.
A statement by the London based Balfour Apology campaign (BAC) http://balfourcampaign.com/recently said that :-
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The royal family visit to Israel is seen by the campaign and Palestinians under occupation and in the diaspora as ‘unhelpful’. Such visit will only encourage Israel to continue its human rights violations against Palestinians and provide free publicity to cover Israel’s ongoing settler colonialism, occupation and apartheid policies.”
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Surely it is now time for the Royal family and the British Government to simply say sorry for what has bought untold misery through nearly a century of conflict, ethnic cleansing, ongoing human rights abuse, brutal occupation and apartheid.It has a responsibility and duty and to redress the pain and suffering of individual Palestinians that have had to endured ever since, and keep up pressure on the state of Israel as they keep continuing to breaking international law and finally apologise for distributing land when they had absolutely no right to do so in the first place and redress the historical injustice that Britain committed against the Palestinian people .This surely would be a sensible approach to reconciliation and the road to peace.
Here is a petition you could sign if you wish, cheers :-
UK must apologise for the Balfour Declaration and lead peace efforts in Palestine:- https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/184398
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