Abbas says UK to be sued over Balfour Declaration

PA President Mahmoud Abbas says Palestinian officials are preparing a lawsuit against the British government over the issuing of the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which paved the way for the creation of Israel.

WAFA reports that Abbas told the Arab League that London is responsible for all “Israeli crimes” committed since the end of the British mandate in 1948.

Balfour Declaration (Wikimedia Commons)
Balfour Declaration (Wikimedia Commons)

The Balfour Declaration was a document by then-foreign secretary Lord Arthur Balfour declaring British support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

There is no immediate reaction from Britain.

The report does not note if Abbas detailed what court the lawsuit would be filed in.

Last year, a group calling itself the Popular Palestinian Campaign to Sue the United Kingdom sued the UK in an Egyptian court.

Palestinian militants burn the British, US and Israeli flags during a demonstration to mark the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration in the southern Gaza town of Rafah on November 2, 2015. (AFP PHOTO/SAID KHATIB)
Palestinian militants burn the British, US and Israeli flags during a demonstration to mark the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration in the southern Gaza town of Rafah on November 2, 2015. (AFP PHOTO/SAID KHATIB)

In 2008, a Palestinian youth group said it would attempt to sue the UK over the Balfour Declaration in Britain or in the ICC.

It’s not clear if either effort bore fruit.

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