Video Infoblog: UN Lecture on 100 Years of Balfour Declaration by Prof. Rashid Khalidi
Intro
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excellencies esteem guest ambassador manur of
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Palestine Professor
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khi per presentive who are in the meeting ladies and
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gentlemen a very good afternoon to you all is a pleasure
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pleasure to be here with you my name is Jerry from South
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Africa today I represent um and I've been asked by the United
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Nations committee on the exercise of the UN rights of Palestinian
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people to take care of the proceedings
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I have an honor of welcoming you today's lecture
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by Professor Rashid khi on the impact of the Balo declaration has heard
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on the Palestinian people today's lecture will be broadcast
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live so you have to smile all the time when I say this you smile and simultaneously
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interpretation will be provided to the extent possible in English and
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Arabic our committee is a subsidary body of the United Nations General
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Assembly with a mandate to advance and advocate for the rights of
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Palestinian people including their right to
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self-determination in accordance with the international law and the principles
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of the CH of United Nations our committee is comprised of 50
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members member states from all the regions of the world and plays a critical role in
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mobilizing international support for a peaceful settlement of the Palestinian
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Israeli conflict ladies and gentlemen
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as you know 2017 marked the 50th year of the Israeli
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occupation which began in 1967 and the 70th anniversary of United
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Nations resolution to partition Palestine but it also marks the Cent
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Centenary of the Bal for declaration 100 years
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ago today during the darkest days of World War
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I the government of United Kingdom announced its support for the
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establishment of a Jewish National home in
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Palestine a letter sent from the UK foreign secretary Alpa Balo to one of the
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British most distinguished Jewish Citizen and Zionist
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at the time Baron Rosal changed the course of history of
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the region Forever Until Now While Israel has been
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established according to that partition as a national home for the
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Jewish people Palestinians remains in
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limbo without a sovereign state of their
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own and with the West Bank Gaza and J
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Jerusalem a small fraction of whated Palestine in
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1947 under the continued Israeli occupation and in
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view of all of us ining United Nations
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some will argue that the Balo Declaration was haringer for future
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injustices conflict and more unfulfilled
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promises such as the 1947 partition plan and oo agreements and all other
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subsequent agreements today's lecture
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give us an opportunity to hear about the profound impact of this
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declaration has had on Palestinian people from a renowned
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scholar and a modern Middle East and a member of a prominent Jerusalem
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family whose Representatives have distinguished themselves in the all
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walks of life of Palestinian life Professor khi is an eminent scholar
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whose research primarily covers the history of the modern Middle
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East with a particular focus on ways in which external Powers have shaped
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development and conflict in that area in his book I quote Palestinian
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identity the construction of of modern National Consciousness published 1997 one of his
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signature Works Professor KH argues that Arabs living in
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Palestine began to regard themselves as a distinct people decades before
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1947 1948 partition and the nagba or the
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catastrophe ending in the flight or expulsion of
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50% of Arab populations in Palestine from their
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homes and from their lands his scholar provides scholarship
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provides a cent reender to Israel nationalistic
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narrative that Arabs in Palestine had no Collective
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identity prior to the 1945's creation of Israel
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Professor khi has published widely and won numerous Awards including a top
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owner of the Middle East studies association of North America the alha harui book award for
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writing the best book in 1997 in addition to teaching and writing
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Professor khidi was an advisor to Palestinian negotiations team in the
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early 1990s Professor KH is a uniquely positioned to
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address today's subject it is a privilege to have you
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here today sir thank you for taking time at your
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busy and hectic schedule to deliver today's lecture we really appreciate
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now it's my honor on your behalf to invite Professor
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khi to deliver his lecture afterwards he will take some few
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questions you have the Flor sir thank you very [Applause]
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much thank you all for coming and thank you your Excellency for that generous
Lecture by Prof. Khalidi
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introduction uh it's a great honor uh to be asked to speak here at the United
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Nations on the 100th anniversary of the balfor Declaration I'm grateful to his
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Excellency Ambassador F desek of Sagal to Ambassador Jerry of South Africa our chair today to the entire committee on
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the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and to the dedicated staff of the UN Secretariat
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for making this event possible I think it's particularly fitting to be speaking today at the
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United Nations which has played such a large role in the tragedy of
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Palestine today I am going to take you on a short historical journey in which I
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will address the impact on the Palestinian people of the Baler declaration and of the League of Nations
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mandate that was based on that declaration I can only hope that if we
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can all become more aware of this historical background we the world community and
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the United Nations in particular may be able to address the harm that was caused
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by this declaration to the Palestinians and by all that followed in a more fair
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and in effect more and in a more effective fashion than it has done over the past 70
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years now the momentous statement made on behalf of the British cabinet on
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November 2nd 1917 by Arthur James balfor who was his
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Majesty's secretary state for foreign affairs is usually looked at in terms of
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British Imperial interests or in terms of its ostensible subject a quote
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National home for the Jewish people we know a great deal about
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Britain's commitment to Zionism we know less about what the
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support of the British Empire via this declaration meant for the aims of Zion
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of Zionism and the Zionist movement which for nearly half a century proudly
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described itself as a colonial Endeavor and which at the same time was a national movement in the
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making the ultimate objective of political Zionism as it was laid out by its founder Theodor Herzel in his 19
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1896 booklet duden was as far reaching as it was crystal clear and these aims were never
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really deviated from these aims were established of a Jewish state in
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Palestine that's what the title of the book says meaning again the book stresses this Jewish sovereignty and
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control of immigration into the country whatever Britain may have
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intended by the balfor Declaration complete and exclusive control over the
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entirety of Palestine was what the Zionist movement consistently fought for during the ensuing half century and
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eventually obtained it did so largely as a result of over two decades of unstinting British
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support secured via this declaration and via the League of Nations mandate that was based upon the Declaration now much
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of this is well known however what I want to talk about today is another aspect of this
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declaration that is of Paramount that I think is of Paramount importance and that is often ignored this was the
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perspective of the people of Palestine whose future the balfor Declaration
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ultimately decided for the Palestinians this this declaration the
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statement was a gun pointed directly at their heads particularly in view of the
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colonialist Ambiance of the early 20th century as I will try to show this
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afternoon the balford Declaration in effect constituted a declaration of war
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by the British Empire on the indigenous population of the land it was promising
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to the Jewish people as a national home this declaration launched what has
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become a century long assault on the Palestinian people aimed at implanting
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and fostering this National home at their
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expense now some people have argued that Zionism can only be seen as a national
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movement others have argued it's a colonial settler movement I would argue that one can walk and chew gum at the
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same time and that from its Inception Zionism was both a nent national
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movement and a colonial Enterprise in search of a metropolitan
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sponsor after having failed to find that sponsor elsewhere Kim vitman the second
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leader of the Zionist movement after Theodore Herzel succeeded with the wartime British cabinet the Zionist
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movement thereafter had the support of the Great greatest power of the age
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Great Britain which was about to become one of the victors in World War I now Zionism had been viewed with
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concern in Palestine as early as the late 19th century uh but the balfor Declaration
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when it was finally revealed to Palestinians meant that that country that their country was now threatened by
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a far greater danger than they had earlier suspected indeed at the very moment
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that the balur Declaration was issued British troops were advancing northward through through Palestine in pursuit of
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the retreating ottoman Army and only 5 weeks after the Declaration was issued
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British forces entered Jerusalem December 9th 1917 the text of the Declaration
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confirmed the nature of this danger it consisted of a single paragraph of 67
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words I'm going to impose on your patience by reading it to you 67 words
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his Majesty's government view with favor The Establishment in Palestine of a
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national home for the Jewish people and will use their best Endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this
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object it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may
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Prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-jewish communities in
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Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other
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country that is the entirety of the B for declaration issued uh as we've just heard to Lord Rothchild the leader of
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the Zionist movement now Palestine was an inhabited country
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in 197 94% of its population was Arab this overwhelming Arab
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majority in the country that was the object of the B deoration went
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unmentioned by his lordship accept in a backhanded way as the quote existing
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non-jewish communities in Palestine they were not described as a
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people the words Palestinian and Arab do not appear in the text of the
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Declaration for all intents and purposes as a national entity for Lord balfor for
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the British cabinet they did not exist they were existing non-jewish communities and no
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more furthermore this is ex extremely important they were offered only quote
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civil and religious rights they were not offered political rights they were not
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offered National rights they were not offered representation they were not described as a people they were not told
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that they would have a national home all of those things applied to the Jewish people but not to the indigenous
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majority in Palestine by way of contrast Lord balfor
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ascribed National rights to the Jewish people who in 1917 were represented in Palestine by about 6% of the total
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population regarded in this way Britain's backing for herzl's aims of Jewish statehood sovereignty and control
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over immigration into Palestine had portentous implications it meant British
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support for bringing into Palestine and implanting a foreign majority at the
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expense of the indigenous population right rights and ultimately at the
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expense of its existence as a people in its own
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land the balfor Declaration thus meant that the Palestinians faed the prospect
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of being outnumbered by unlimited immigration and of losing control of their country to the Zionist drive for
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sole sovereignty over a country that was then almost completely Arab uh in
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population and and culture it took over three decades and the mass expulsion of
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a little over half of the Arab population of Palestine from their homes in 1948 for the for these things to
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happen but happen they did now I've mentioned that even before World War I there had been trepidation
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among the Arabs of Palestine about the rapid progress of the Zionist movement this became a widespread sentiment as
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the movement grew in strength and as immigration to Palestine increased between 1909 and 1914 the two leading
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haa and yafa newspapers Al and Philistine published over 200 articles
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warning about the danger of Zionism for the Palestinians scores of Articles per
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year in each newspaper among the peasantry and areas of intensive colonization Zionist
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inroads were felt in concrete terms as land purchase led to the removal of Arab
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peasants working on the land their concerns were shared by Arab City dwellers who observed with mounting
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concern the constant arrival of new European Jewish immigrants this was before the war
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once the war had taken place news of the balar Declaration reached Palestine only with much delay after November 2nd all
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no local newspapers had been closed since the beginning of the war there were no papers in Palestine then after
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British troops occupied the country strict military occupation regime banned news of the Declaration from being
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spread the British did not want the population to know what they had pledged in the Bal for declaration they did not
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allow newspapers to open for two years after 1917 in fact it was not until 1920
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the First Palestinian papers were allowed to reopen there were other reasons however for the delayed
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Palestinian reaction to the balfor Declaration these relate to the extraordinary wartime conditions that
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prevailed in Palestine and that caused intense suffering the scene the country had been the scene of more than a year
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of intense battles between British and ottoman forces which continued until
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1918 such that by the end of the war Palestinians were already prostrated and
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exhausted by severe wartime shortages famine penury dislocation the
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requisitioning of draft animals and the uh conscription of almost every
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able-bodied man into the ottoman Army of all the major combatant Powers the
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Ottoman Empire suffered the heaviest wartime death toll Britain France
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Germany suffered around 4% casualties in their adult male
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population the ottoman death toll was over 3 million dead or
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15% of the total population most of these people were civilians in Greater
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Syria including Palestine there were half a million deaths due to famine alone between 1915 and
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1918 civilian deaths were compounded by horrific wartime casualties
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750,000 ottoman soldiers out of the 2.8 million had been mobilized died during
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the war one in Four soldiers died in ottoman service the impact of all of
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these factors on Palestine was intense it's estimated that after growing over 1% annually in all of the pre-war years
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the population of Palestine declined by 6% during World War I it was against
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this Grim background of mass suffering and the advance of British troops that
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Palestinians eventually learned about the issuance of the balar Declaration the British tried to prevent them from
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learning about it but they did learn about it the shock of hearing about this promise to the Zionist movement by Lord
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balur was exacerbated by a British occupation that marked the end of 400
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years of Ottoman sovereignty a regime which had pre prevailed for a full 20
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Generations almost twice twice the lifetime of the American Republic there was nevertheless a rapid
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evolution in the way that Palestinians saw themselves during an after World War War One in a world where nationalism had
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been gaining ground for decades a world war that had been driven by unrestrained nationalist sentiment provided a major
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boost to the National idea in Palestine and in other areas of the world the enhanced salience of nationalism was
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compounded by the espousal in 1917 by both woodro Wilson and Vladimir lennin
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of the principle of national self-determination the endorsement of the national principle by two ostensibly
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anti-colonial Powers had an enormous impact on people's the world over as a
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result of the hopes aroused and then disappointed by Wilson's 14 Points by the Bolshevik Revolution by the Paris
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peace conference there were massive anti-colonial upheavals in India in Korea in Egypt and in many other
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countries now I would argue that as a result of World War I and what followed
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the Palestinians were suffering from what might be described as collective post-traumatic stress
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syndrome and in a situation like this they had to face entirely new realities
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as they entered a new post-war World suff suffused by nationalist fervor the
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Ottoman Empire was now gone it was replaced by the hegemony of the British and French Empires which in 1915 and
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1916 had secretly carried out a self-interested colonial partition of the region which we know as the syes beo
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Accords that was public publicly revealed only in 1917 against this could be set the
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possibilities of Arab Independence and self-determination which had been promised secretly by Britain to Sharif
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Hussein of Mecca in 1916 and which was the subject of repeated British public pledges there
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after now listen closely because while these British promises were at best
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partially and belatedly kept as regards other Arab peoples they were never never
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honored where the Arab population of Palestine was concerned so while other
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Middle Eastern countries eventually achieved a measure of Independence in the interwar period no such option was
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UN offer for the Palestinians in palestin Great Britain operated with an
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entirely different set of rules than in other league of nation mandates unlike all other class A
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mandates so-called which had been established in the the former Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire all of
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which were treated in accordance with article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations as provisionally independent
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nations Palestine and Palestine alone was denied such
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treatment instead Palestine and the Palestinians faced a set of rules
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rigidly dictated by the terms of the balfor Declaration and the Declaration as we know had been tailored to suit the
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Des desider of Zionism a European colonizing project and a national movement which had now acquired as its
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Patron a formidable army a formidable Empire whose AR who slow down whose
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armies were just then in the process of conquering
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Palestine British troops were not to leave the country for over 30 years by
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which time the Zionist Enterprise had become firmly entrenched
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as soon as they were able to do so in the wake of World War I the
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Palestinians began to challenge vigorously both both the form of governance imposed by the British based
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on the balfor Declaration and the introduction of the Zionist movement as
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a privileged interlocutor of the British they did so initially in the shadow of a
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strict British military occupation regime regime that lasted until 1920 and was followed by a rule by a
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series of British High Commissioners the first of these high Commissioners were sir Herbert Samuel a
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former cabinet minister and dedicated Zionist who laid the governmental foundations for much of what
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followed in understanding the unsuccessful efforts of the Palestinians
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to oppose this regime two crucial factors are of Paramount
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importance the first factor is that unlike most other peoples who fell under
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the sway of colonial rule the Palestinians had to contend not only
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with the colonial power in the Metropole but also with the terms of the balfor
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Declaration they thus had to deal with a colonial settler movement which it was
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beholden to Britain was independent of Britain and which uh sorry and which had
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a powerful National impulse and an international base most importantly they
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had a base in this country in the United States the second factor is that Britain
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did not rule Palestine outright as a colonial Possession It ruled Palestine
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as a mandatory power of the League of Nations in rejecting Palestinian
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protests about the pal for declaration British officials could simply point to
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the international legitimacy for its terms that were that was provided by the
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1922 League of Nations mandate for Palestine which at the instigation of the British themselves had Incorporated
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verbatim the text of the balfor Declaration the balfor declaration
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constitutes the introduction to the League of Nations mandate for Palestine it's the preamble
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to the Mandate in seven of the 28 articles of that mandate there is an effort to
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substantially amplify and expand on the commitments of the balfor Declaration so
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the Mandate is in effect a elaboration of the balfor Declaration thus the
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British government could hide behind the terms of their League of Nations m in denying the Palestinians treatment as
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an independent nation in accordance with article 22 of the Covenant of the League
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of Nations I would therefore argue that the Palestinians were in a triple
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bind this may have been unique in the entire history of the resistance of
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indigenous peoples to European colonialism they faced the might of the
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British Empire in in an era between the world wars in which not one single
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Colonial possession with the partial exception of Ireland succeeded in
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freeing itself from the clutches of the European powers this was not an age of Liberation this was not an age of
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decolonization it was an age in which the colonial empires maintained their
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power the Palestinians faced as well an international colonizing move movement
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with a national Mission and with its own independent sources of finance and
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support besides those which were generously offered by Britain and finally they were confronted with the
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international legitimacy that was accorded to British rule by the League of Nations which had Sanctified the
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balfor Declaration and its Colonial import for the Palestinians by endowing it with the legal imperator of the
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preeminent International body of its day the balfor Declaration was thus
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transmogrified transformed it became more than just a
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statement by the British cabinet it became an internationally
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sanctioned legal document in explaining the failure of the Palestinians to
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retain control of their ancestral Homeland alongside understanding the
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shortcomings of their leader leaders and the hindrances that resulted from fissures within Palestinian Society we
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must keep in mind the triple bind they were in facing Britain Zionism and
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international legitimacy now before November 2nd
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1917 the Zionist movement was both a national movement in embryo and a
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colonial Enterprise without a fixed met Metropole like an orphan searching for a
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foster parent when it found such a parent in Great Britain as symbolized by
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the balfor Declaration the colonization and transformation of Arab Palestine
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into a Jewish State could begin in Earnest this process was backed very
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soon afterwards as I've suggested by the international legitimacy provided by the
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League of Nations mandate importantly however it was
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backed as well by an indispensable Iron Wall of British bayonets in the words of
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that most forthright of Zionist leaders Zev jabotinski it was not just
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International legitimacy it was also British bayonets that supported this
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process seen from the perspective of the Palestinian people the careful
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calibrated diplomatic pros of the balfor Declaration amounted as I've suggested
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to a declaration of war on them for the next few decades this war was waged in
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several ways it was waged by the Zionist movement with money legal means
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propaganda and finally with mortars and car bombs it was waged by the British Empire
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with multiple forms of repression prison camps Exile summary executions war planes
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tanks and artillery by the end of the Arab Revolt
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in Palestine in 1939 10% of the adult male population of
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Palestine was dead wounded imprisoned or in
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Exile that is a very H heavy weight of British repression employed in service
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of this Pro of this project the issuance of the bord Declaration
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therefore I submit marked the beginning of a century long Colonial conflict in
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Palestine supported by an array of outside powers in much different forms
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this conflict continues until this
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day now I realize that I may have imposed on
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your Patience by summarizing some of the history around the balfor Declaration
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and how it affected the Palestinians some would say that we
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should forget history in dealing with the Palestine conflict I would
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suggest that those who say something along these lines have an
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absolutely miserable track record of failure in attempting to resolve the core issues at stake specifically the
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conflict between the Palestinian and Israeli peoples ignoring history is one of the
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things that has brought us to where we are in 2017 in fact I would argue I'm a
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historian so I would do this but I would nevertheless argue that this historical background is essential to understanding
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why this conflict has lasted for so long and is essential to understand
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understanding how it might be justly resolved this background also helps us
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to understand that it did not begin in 1967 or in 1948 as some shortsighted
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observers would have it finally this background points out the
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Avenue towards a real lasting sustainable peace and towards real
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reconciliation and compromise between the Palestinian and Israeli people
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reconciliation as the South Africans can attest depends on acknowledging
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historical realities rather than ignoring them genuine compromise must be
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based on Justice and absolutely equal treatment and absolutely equal rights
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for all it must not it cannot be based on the imposition of the will of the
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stronger on the weaker that is is not compromise that is something
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else I would argue that this historical background points to another
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fact and this is a this is something that I can say here in a body that has
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over 200 members most of which are not great Powers what I am about to say may offend
35:25
the great Powers but I'm going to go ahead and say it I'm not a diplomat I can say whatever I
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please and this fact is is the following it is that peace between
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Palestine and Israel is far too important to be left to the
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self-interested ministrations of the great Powers alone again and again the history of the
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League of Nations The History of the United Nations show us that these great Powers were
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responsible for imposing formulas in Palestine that suited their interests of
36:11
the moment in every single case these
36:16
formulas created exacerbated and magnified this
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conflict in so doing these great powers have ignored international law and they
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have ignored essential elements of the covenants and Charters that they
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themselves helped to shape such as the principle of self-determination that
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animates both the Covenant of the League of Nations and the charter of the United Nations if there's one defining
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principle behind those two documents crafted essentially by the great powers
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of the the day themselves it is the principle of self-determination it's
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this principle that has been ignored in one respect in
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Palestine as someone who is the son of an international civil servant who
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Faithfully served the United Nations for his entire career I have been a close
37:23
witness for many decades to the failures of this body body of the United Nations
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to live up to its principles where Palestine is concerned I was sitting in
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the security Council chamber as a visitor when the United Nations security Council attempted to pass a ceasefire
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resolution in June 1967 I used to come to this building all the time there was
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no security in those days one could enter very easily so I have witnessed
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episode after episode after episode of this failure which I would ascribe
37:57
largely to the machinations of the great Powers I am not naive
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however and as a historian I know all too well that power has its prerogatives
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we see that most clearly of course in the security Council but the United
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Nations was not set up to make the world a more comfortable place for the
38:23
powerful but rather to bring peace with Justice and to bring the rule of
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international law over the 100 years since the balford Declaration was
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issued over the 70 years since the passage of UN General Assembly
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resolution 181 in this month in 1947 in the 50 years since the adoption
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of un Security Council resolution 242 in this month in 1967 neither peace with
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Justice nor the rule of law has prevailed where Palestine is concerned
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it is high time for the United Nations and the entire world Community to act in
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this Spirit specifically after a full Century it is
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high time that the establishment of a national home promised by balfor and the
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League of Nations to the Jewish people in 1917 and afterwards be matched by the
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establishment of a national home for the Palestinian people after 70 full years it is high
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time that the national self-determination promised to the Israeli people by the United Nations
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General Assembly in November 1947 and that the Israeli people have enjoyed
39:53
since 1948 be enjoyed by the Palestinian people and after 50 full years it is
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high time for the injunction in un Security Council resolution forbidding
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quote the acquisition of territory by War to be vigorously enforced where the
40:13
territories occupied in 1967 are concerned finally it is high
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time for the United Nations and for the entire International Community to take
40:27
vigorous action belatedly to break the century Old Log
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Jam created and perpetuated by the great Powers this manmade Log Jam has
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prevented the principle of self-determination from being applied fairly and equally to both parties of
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this conflict the Palestinian and Israeli peoples they both deserve the
40:55
peace and stability that only an equitable resolution of the conflict
41:00
between them on the basis of international law and in a spirit of justice and equality would bring thank
41:07
you very [Applause]
41:24
much Professor KH Thank you very very much very
Q&A
41:31
educative Illuminating I have personally learned
41:36
so much about the history of Palestinian
41:43
People ambassador Mansour I think um your people have
41:49
enjoyed I have never heard or read the depth of Injustice to
41:57
Palestinian people um before we go further I really
42:03
want to recognize a number of uh distinguished permanent Representatives here of
42:08
different countries colleagues welcome I see a number of colleagues here from all the regions of the
42:15
world and of different countries here this is really encouraging to see all of you
42:23
here from everywhere to listen to this journey of a
42:31
people that has for many years Andes today to be
42:38
denied their right to self-determination I I thought we have a problem in South Africa but I've never understood the
42:46
depth and magnitude of the Palestinian
42:51
CA I really have never imagined that a people can be subjected
43:01
to such enduring hardship by 67 weights 67
43:10
weights okay it's not my I'm not going to
43:15
summarize what professor khi said I think we are now ready for
43:22
Q&A oh for kind
43:29
words from all of you including encouraging Palestinian to
43:37
persevere and assisting them in the just
43:45
struggle for their self-determination can I ask that
43:51
because you know we don't see all of us where we are sitting just you raise your flag or replace a
43:57
button there I'm going to take names introduce yourselves ask question or make
44:04
comments the floor is open the floor is
44:12
open Mal um my colleagues from
44:19
Malta um thank you um Ambassador Jerry thank you uh professor khi for being
44:27
here with us today and for giving us this interesting
44:33
um chronology of events and very Illuminating and uh sequence I have a
44:41
question though a hypothetical question um to you um if at the time of the
44:51
Declaration any Palestinian leadership I don't know whether there
44:56
was was already formed would have sought for a decolonization
45:04
process in the sense that it would they would have targeted rather than Zionism
45:13
they would have targeted the British Empire for giving their land which have
45:18
which they have occupied from another occupier what would you think um would
45:26
have been if first of all would have this been possible um in the circumstances of that
45:33
day and whether would have changed the course not of subjugation because I
45:39
believe that would still the Palestinian people would have been subjected to um
45:46
to foreign control but at least it would have deviated a bit and maybe
45:52
elevated the the struggle for their Liberation thank you
45:59
no take some few question MTA thanks I think if I'm not wrong Malta is the chair of the Common Wealth you're the
46:06
chair of the British Commonwealth now yes right so I think it was good
46:12
that the first question came I don't say you represent the Commonwealth I was just saying
46:21
that thanks B I then have um my friend
46:27
Khalifa from Oman you have the floors thank you Ambassador Jerry my friend and
46:33
I thank uh uh Professor khidi for this informative and passionate uh lecture
46:42
can you please share the light on the uh background of the B for
46:48
uh declaration um what has made the British
46:53
government give such a uh promise to the Jewish people even though it has um an
47:02
interest in the Arab world from sus uh to the gulf uh what's what leverage has the
47:10
Jewish or the Zionist uh at that time to influence the British in addition can
47:17
you also say what were the Dynamics within the Zionist movement at that time because once uh once I saw a program
47:25
about the root child family and even within this family there were differences whether to seek this balur
47:32
declaration or not or whether this is the best way to go about it and uh was
47:38
it true this um some historical fact or non fact that balur actually he sought
47:45
sorry uh the Zionist have sought to to get this declaration from The otoman
47:52
Sultans who was there at that time thank you professor
47:57
thanks so much um Ambassador even the colleagues at the back there you you are
48:03
have the full right to ask questions um let me take the third one then we come to the next round um my
48:10
sister from Namibia you have the
48:15
floor thank you Ambassador machila and uh thank you also to profess Professor
48:22
khidi this is a really interesting topic um because it doesn't only um impact on
48:32
the Palestinians I think the Palestinians are a casualty of a much
48:37
bigger picture and this is why your um your lecture today is so
48:43
important because it gives us a wider View and of course um speaking as uh
48:51
representing a former colony of um the the German
48:57
the South Africans and also uh partly the British uh
49:02
Namibia has quite a lot to um well we
49:08
have a perspective and um I think what um came into my head as I was listening
49:14
to the lecture was first of all in February 1917 um that whole whole period in
49:23
Namibia was very important because at that time in in South Africa um you had
49:29
the the British troops fighting against the africanas the buas you had the
49:37
British fighting against the Germans in Namibia but at the same time a very
49:44
important uh personality King mandum y dumo was killed in Namibia in February
49:53
1917 and this actually had a huge impact on the um population of Namibia and the
50:02
uh ability to colonize the country at that time and I would at the same time
50:10
around that same period in India There Was the vote by the uh Indian I can't
50:16
remember what it was called the parliament well it wasn't really a parliament but they they decided they
50:23
wanted to have self-determination and they wanted to break away from the British so there was this whole uh
50:30
movement and I have a question which is why which follows up from the ambassador
50:36
of Oman why is it that the British decided they would put the Brit the the
50:43
Jewish people into a particular area why did they want to push them into
50:52
one group because my I would argue and I'm I'm I might be wrong but I would
50:57
like to know whether it's true did they want to get rid of them from somewhere
51:03
in Namibia the it was the same time a lot of Lithuanian Jews came to Namibia
51:08
and they were actually very instrumental in building up the economy of Namibia um but my my argument is that
51:17
why is it that there was this movement to sort of push these people aside okay
51:23
we're going to as a government support as iist movement a religious movement so
51:30
I think there are so many undercurrents going on at that period which are so interesting and I'm sure that you have a
51:37
lot to say on all of those perhaps you could just comment because the casualty
51:43
of this whole thing was the Palestinian people um sorry but can I just make one more point and that is that it was very
51:51
interesting to listen to the special raor on human rights of the Palestinian people this week um uh who made the
52:00
connection between the namibian case which was taken to the international
52:05
court of justice and the Palestinian situation and looking at the legality of
52:13
the Mandate which definitely has expired um over that territory thank
52:20
you thanks most much can I give Professor KH the right to reply then get
52:25
the second r i take you my assist not not now Professor you have that these
52:31
are three very important questions thank you for giving me the opportunity to answer and uh uh To Her Excellency the
52:38
ambassador of Namibia Professor Link's reference to the namibian case I think is very very important I thought it was
52:45
one of the most original elements in his in his extraordinarily uh uh audite report um and it made me reflect a great
52:52
deal about the parallels to the case of Palestine let me answer the three questions in order um the question of of
53:00
the ambassador of Malta which is really a very good question could Palestinian leaders have targeted British
53:07
colonialism instead of Zionism um I actually have argued this very point in
53:12
a book that I wrote uh a number of years ago suggesting that in fact that would
53:19
have been a better approach because the essential problem was British control
53:24
over Palestine for most of the 20s and 30s the essential problem was not
53:30
Zionism or the Zionist movement the essential problem was British control and the Palestinians for reasons that it
53:37
would take me much longer than I have to explain here were somewhat belated in rising up against their colonial Masters
53:44
in 1919 there was an enormous revolution in Egypt against the British in 1920
53:51
there was a massive armed Revolt in Iraq against the British occup ation in 1925
53:58
there was a enormous Revolt in Syria in which the French troops lost control of
54:04
Damascus in 1925 and 26 in Morocco there was an a Revolt that required half a
54:11
million French and Spanish troops to suppress it in each of these cases uh
54:16
these uprisings took place in the immediate aftermath of World War I or a few years later and succeeded in forcing
54:23
some concessions from the colonial power for whatever reason it took the Palestinians 10 more years before they
54:30
finally reached the point of targeting the British and revolting and I would argue that perhaps by that time it it
54:36
was too late but I think it's a very it's a very interesting question I'm a historian so the might have bins are
54:42
hard to deal with but I I think there's a there's a you raise a very important Point as far as Ambassador Khalifa is
54:49
concerned um you've touched on a a fascinating topic which is the back
54:56
ground of the Bal for declaration um why did Britain make such a promise in spite
55:02
of its interest in the Arab world from Suz to the gulf and this is a question that I I
55:09
think actually requires peeling away many layers of myth one of them is that
55:14
the British cabinet acted as it did out of a sense
55:21
of concern for the sufferings of the Jewish people
55:27
I don't think that was the primary motivation certainly for some members of the cabinet there was a an element of
55:35
what you might call philosemitism an element of of uh looking at the Bible
55:41
and seeing in it a a sort of a a a road map for the future and saying the Jewish people should be restored to its
55:47
ancestral Homeland most of these people however most of the members of this cabinet were hard-headed strategic
55:54
thinkers their primary objective was securing British Imperial interests and
56:00
winning World War I Britain for over 11 years before the balfor Declaration had
56:07
determined that it was absolutely vital for British strategic interests that it control Palestine and thereby defend the
56:15
Eastern flank of Egypt and the Suz canal and during the war ottoman troops in fact crossed Sinai and attacked the Suz
56:22
Canal so those fears the pre-war fears were borne out by War time developments so the British wanted
56:28
Palestine long before vitman ever met anybody in the British cabinet this was
56:34
a British these were British strategic desiderata years before they had War
56:39
plans they were spying all over Palestine T Lawrence's first spying es
56:45
Escapade was in Palestine in 1914 he was sent to map the negative because the British were concerned about Palestine
56:52
as a strategic region now why did they choose the second part of your question and part of the ambassador of Nima's
56:59
question is why did they choose the Zionist movement and again if you look at the the proceedings of the British
57:06
cabinet what appears is that they saw that a European Colony
57:13
established by the banks of the Suz canal in other words on the Eastern flank of the Suez Canal would be a
57:19
strategic Bastion which would guarantee British control of not just the canal
57:24
but of the whole region running from the mediter ukian to the gulf Via Jordan and Iraq and quit so I think there was a
57:31
there was a sense that this would be an anchor for the British strategic position now why did they pick support
57:37
of the Jewish National home there other considerations come up some of them philosemitism in other words a sense of
57:43
Sympathy for the Jewish people some of them involving the extraordinary diplomacy that vites men undertook
57:49
during the war some of them involving a sense that uh the the the the British
57:55
support for Zion M would lead Jews the world over to support the Allied cause against Germany there were many other
58:01
there were many other reasons for the issuance of the Baler declaration but I would suggest that strategic considerations were always Paramount for
58:09
the British I don't think one should look at sentiment as the as the driving
58:14
impulse of anything that the British Empire ever did strategic calculation was always at the base of what they did
58:22
um now as far as the last question did the Zionist movement try to get support
58:29
from the otoman sultan it absolutely did Herzel spent a great deal of time in Istanbul and he spent a great deal of
58:35
time in Berlin and he spent a great deal of time uh in in in Vienna trying to get
58:40
the support of different powers for his project it was only his successor Kim vitman that was ultimately successful
58:47
with the British so that's why I said a colonial movement in search of of
58:52
of a Metropole uh they tried other places before they finally hit Pay Dirt in in London um as far as her
58:59
excellency's question um you're absolutely right uh I think that I think that the issue of Palestine is related
59:06
to the entire inter issue of interwar colonialism and how the great colonial
59:12
empires managed to expand their their their realm in an era where Wilson and
59:19
Lenin had both propounded principles of self-determination and so they went around Wilson in effect through the
59:25
mandate system in Namibia uh T tanganika later Tanzania uh uh various other parts
59:31
of the world as well as uh Iraq Syria Lebanon Jordan and Palestine were
59:37
subject to this mandate system and you you're also right I think that one can
59:44
learn a great deal from comparing the way in which different mandates were treated um there's a wonderful book by a
59:50
colleague of mine at Colombia by the name of Susan Peterson the book is called the Guardians and she she
59:56
discusses the way in which the ways in which the mandate system operated differently in different mandates among
1:00:01
them actually Namibia it's it's quite a it's quite a brilliant and informative book um
1:00:07
and when I suggested that the the League of Nations was supportive of Zionism
1:00:14
this is definitely the case when the syrians rose up against the French in 1925 26 and the case went to the
1:00:22
permanent mandates commission which was the equivalent of our trusteeship Council of the United Nations next door
1:00:28
um the permanent mandate permanent mandates commission was very harsh on the French they said you are behaving
1:00:34
badly you have an obligation to prepare this people for Independence and you're bombarding Damascus so the the the the
1:00:42
the the world Community acted very differently there than it later acted in 1929 when there was a a Palestinian
1:00:48
Uprising and the permanent mandates commission supported the British and and and and basically opposed the
1:00:54
Palestinians so I think you're absolutely right there's a great deal to be to be learned let me say one last
1:01:00
thing you asked why did the British decide to put the Jewish people into this area one of the Lesser known
1:01:06
facts about Lord B balfor is that he had had an earlier encounter with the Jewish question
1:01:13
before he was foreign secretary in the wartime government he had been prime minister in fact he got his post his
1:01:21
first government jobs as a result of nepotism because he was a nephew of Lord Salsbury and after a term in Ireland
1:01:29
where he became known as bloody balur by the Irish I'm quoting um he eventually became prime
1:01:36
minister he succeeded his uncle as prime minister and he was the author of the alien Exclusion Act which kept Jewish
1:01:43
refugees fleeing zaris persecution in the pgrs of Eastern Europe from entering
1:01:50
Britain so I I think that where where while while sentiment may have played as small
1:01:56
role I think anti-Semitism also plays a role here better to have them go elsewhere than to have them here uh was
1:02:03
in the minds of some people perhaps thanks let me take the second
1:02:08
round I see my sister over there yes you have the floor
1:02:15
um take this thing I can't
1:02:24
hear Oh I thought that you said this one here no that there one yeah you yeah me
1:02:32
sure sure it's you no no first uh it's a it's a a ro
1:02:41
just here I will come back to you yes my sister you have the floor
1:02:51
yeah yeah uh good evening uh my comment will be in Arabic for
1:03:00
translation Shad I am shadin I am a
1:03:05
presenter at first 67 words one paper was enough to
1:03:12
launch a long protracted conflict it launched the rape of uh
1:03:20
sanctity lands and displacement today Britain Rejects and refuses all calls
1:03:28
from around the world to really apologize to the Palestinian
1:03:34
people for the past 100 years today it celebrates 100 Years of the Bal for
1:03:42
declaration and hosts the Israeli palestin the Israeli Prime Minister
1:03:47
first why is it disregarding all these calls after thousands of uh displaced
1:03:55
people of Palestinians in camps after killing raping after the establishment of
1:04:03
settlements in Palestinian territories
1:04:09
second as Dr khed has said the United Nations
1:04:15
must take effective measures to solve the Palestinian question we as Arabs
1:04:24
during these past years when the Palestinian cause was the vital and
1:04:29
principal cause in the Arab world and we cannot say that it wasn't the major
1:04:35
cause today we celebrate the Naka the nakba the balur Declaration Palestine
1:04:43
has become a series of celebrations of NBAs and
1:04:50
nexas the balur Declaration was set and it was implemented Ed and we are reaping
1:04:57
the fruits of that de declaration we as Arab states what have we
1:05:04
done why are we lying on a daily basis
1:05:09
and saying that we will liberate Palestine Palestine will not be Li
1:05:17
liberated or it will only Li be liberated by its people
1:05:22
Jordan only has been against the idea of
1:05:27
the alternative country there is no alternative for the Palestinian country
1:05:34
the king and government of Jordan believe in the independence of the
1:05:40
Palestinian country finally the whole world without any
1:05:45
exception without any exception no people no government no president no
1:05:53
Kings all the world must acknowledge the right of the Palestinian PE people to
1:06:00
self-determination to the establishment of their independent country in line
1:06:05
with the four uh on the lines of the four June 2ou 1947 with e Jerusalem as
1:06:12
its capital thank you we missed your name introduce
1:06:19
yourself presenter okay thank you so much and then there was uh another
1:06:24
sister up there no here in the middle
1:06:30
here she's not she's not there okay go ahead up at the top there go ahead just
1:06:36
raise your hand they will show you
1:06:43
yeah very good go ahead yes hi my name is lamis I am a Palestinian attorney
1:06:49
activist and the great granddaughter of a man who was killed by the British colonizers I particularly appreciate
1:06:56
Professor khalid's uh framing of the conditions of Palestinians now and of
1:07:02
Israel as the inheritor of British colonization um and the critical part I think what makes Israel distinct is not
1:07:10
only is it lacking a Metro pole but it is also uh a colonization for the
1:07:15
purpose and with the express repeatedly uh articulated purpose of ethnic
1:07:20
cleansing which makes it a bit distinct and worse as his Excellency the representative of Sagal suggested
1:07:27
earlier worse than even the South African and uh Algerian under French
1:07:32
condition um and as we know at least in the sense of the purpose of the colonization for the
1:07:39
ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and because we well know that colonizers rule uh not only by force and brute
1:07:46
power but they also rule by agreements agreements with third parties and agreements with the natives um and if we
1:07:54
agree and as many others have suggested and I think is discussed often that a critical component or vehicle for peace
1:08:01
in the region is Justice and the repatriation of Palestinian refugees and
1:08:07
given that there have been models for not only the repatriation of refugees but also for allowing not only the
1:08:14
Israelis but even the settlers to remain in the land that they have colonized why
1:08:20
then is it that the UN bodies agencies and even the states and governments that
1:08:26
have been very kind and sympathetic with the Palestinian people and the Palestinian issue continue to work and
1:08:34
talk about Palestine within a colonial framework and centers the Israeli or the
1:08:42
Zionist colonizing call for an ethnocentric State when there are other
1:08:47
models that we can look to like the Algerian model like the South African model for The Liberation or at least the
1:08:55
resolution of the conditions under which Palestinians live and I'm also wondering
1:09:02
when this will change when we will look at again the South African model which reached back 80 years to to call for and
1:09:11
to make amends and reparations and equality and allowed for a more just resolution that accommodated both
1:09:18
without again calling for a white separatist state in South Africa so this
1:09:23
is my question how and when do we see the framework of the the discussion of
1:09:28
the solution for Palestine uh change thank
1:09:33
you thank you my sister I see you provoked many people I see so many hands going up
1:09:39
now um yes you here yeah go ahead raise
1:09:46
your yeah okay uh my name is t Barakat good afternoon and thank you Professor
1:09:52
khid for this lecture um I would like to can you hear
1:09:59
me yeah Tanya Barakat I would like to draw everybody's
1:10:06
attention to a point that may be not forgiven definitely but maybe not taking
1:10:12
enough attention here first I would like to highlight the definition of absentee
1:10:18
in the Israeli law which is a Palestinian person or property holder uh
1:10:25
who who lives in a neighboring Arab country what would happen to the
1:10:31
properties of absentees who are Palestinian people who were landlords
1:10:37
and property holders in 1948 and left or
1:10:43
were uh sent away you know what would happen how would the International
1:10:50
Community deal with this issue do they have the right to claim their properties
1:10:57
under international law and under the definition of absentee thank
1:11:05
you yeah yes my
1:11:11
brother test okay make sure everybody can hear me my name is David mcleland
1:11:16
I'm a student at New Jersey City University in New Jersey and I have a
1:11:22
question for professor khi um I just wanted to read a a quote or a
1:11:30
statement that I found uh recently um this came from uh Britain
1:11:37
and it reads end quote much has happened since
1:11:42
1917 we recognized that the Declaration should have called for the protection of
1:11:48
political rights of the non-jewish communities in Palestine particularly
1:11:55
their right to self-determination however the important thing now is to look forward and
1:12:03
establish security and justice for both Israelis and Palestinians through a
1:12:09
lasting peace this was uh stated by the government of Britain earlier this year
1:12:16
in 2017 and my question off of this statement Professor is why do you think
1:12:24
so long after a 100 years it's taken the government of Britain to come out and
1:12:30
publicly State this thank
1:12:35
you uh if you want to speak please press press the button it will be green then you can see
1:12:42
you okay ma'am go now thank you go ahead uh my
1:12:48
name is am Al Asar I a Palestinian refugee and I'm from Lebanon and uh I am
1:12:54
a journalist so I have uh three questions for Professor
1:12:59
khidi uh the first one is how much did
1:13:04
the the Belford I mean the bord Declaration as you stated uh aimed to
1:13:10
delete the Palestinian identity and now after hundreds of ye hundred year we see
1:13:15
that the Palestinian identity is getting stronger and stronger so how uh much was
1:13:23
the this declaration played role in in this uh identity the second question is
1:13:29
that now we um some Palestinians asked the British government for an apology
1:13:36
now we know the Viewpoint of uh the poit the the political men in the government
1:13:42
the Palestinian government about this apology but you as as an academic could
1:13:47
you explain to me or to us how this is beneficial for us as Palestinians and
1:13:54
the last one is that um could you tell us a bit more about the alien act that
1:14:00
was implemented by Belfor I mean not many people know about it but um many
1:14:07
people know about his sympath sympathy with uh the Jews and the Belford
1:14:12
declaration thank you okay as Professor is I'm going to take the third round but I want
1:14:18
Professor to organize um himself as he organize himself I'm going to give ambassador to say something Prof I give
1:14:26
you a bit of SP to organize please press the button so you remain
1:14:31
green yeah good thank you Ambassador
1:14:38
Jerry uh for uh chairing this very important uh
1:14:44
meeting and also I want to thank on behalf of the delegation of the State of Palestine at the United Nations the
1:14:52
committee on the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people for organizing this event for the
1:14:59
division for being very instrumental in making it
1:15:05
happen and also to uh thank all uh to
1:15:10
Professor Rashid khi of course who gave us a fabulous uh
1:15:16
presentation uh on the occasion of 100 years since the adoption of the infamous
1:15:22
belf for declaration the party participant this large crowd many of my colleagues
1:15:29
ambassadors uh members of the committee and the Bureau of the committee and uh diplomats staff of the
1:15:37
United Nations and people from the community we thank you for being with us
1:15:42
today in Remembering this Infamous declaration and also I want to thank the
1:15:51
uh the association of journalists at the United Nation whom they made an announcement
1:15:58
for all journalist to cover this event and I hope that they are covering it
1:16:04
some of them that might be transmitting this uh uh event live on television to
1:16:10
all corners of the globe and also I want to thank the Palestinian people whom
1:16:17
they might be watching us I believe they are watching us because Palestine television is transmitting this event
1:16:23
live and uh of course the Palestinian people since the morning have been
1:16:29
demonstrating in all cities and towns in occupied Palestine and in the refugee
1:16:35
camps in and in other places trying you know to uh to remember this Infamous day
1:16:43
in history uh for all the reasons that were mentioned by Professor
1:16:48
Rashid khidi I believe that the fact that we have this event at the United
1:16:55
Nations is part of the contribution of the International Community and and our
1:17:01
friends in protesting this Injustice inflicted upon the Palestinian people and I believe it
1:17:08
will contribute to the fact that the International Community especially the
1:17:14
majority of member states who are supporting the struggle of the Palestinian people and addressing this
1:17:21
Injustice inflicted upon them uh to do more in order to see the Palestinian
1:17:28
people exercising their right to self-determination through an independent state with East Jerusalem as
1:17:35
its capital to have in reality a two-state solution uh preserved uh I
1:17:42
wanted before Professor khidi to respond to the second wave of questions and
1:17:47
perhaps there will be a third wave just to share with you these thoughts and I want to thank also my team
1:17:55
uh all the members of the delegation of the State of Palestine who collaborated with the division and the committee to
1:18:02
make this event the successful event successful quote unquote in a sense of
1:18:08
having a large crowd here and also to make a statement by all of you and
1:18:14
through the media to everyone who is listening to us that the Palestinian people are continuing to struggle
1:18:21
against this Injustice rooted in Belford declaration and they will not relent or
1:18:27
stop until they accomplish all of their in inalienable rights I thank you very
1:18:33
much for being with us this afternoon thank you Ambassador Mansour now be patient I have four more hands so
1:18:41
I'm going to give uh Professor khidi the chance to answer then I'm going to go to
1:18:46
the third wave um of questions Prof you have the floor thank you um I'm going to
1:18:53
answer the first question in Arabic in English I'll answer it briefly in both
1:19:02
um to Mrs Shaden as for the uh British
1:19:09
apology for the balford Declaration why has it not apologized yet simple reason
1:19:17
the Zionist narrative continues to dominate the British environment ESP
1:19:24
especially in the media and in the conservative current uh party therefore
1:19:32
the uh prime minister will now uh host the prime minister of Israel
1:19:40
however the situation is changing even in Britain now we see in the labor
1:19:48
party a radical change radical change of the position of
1:19:55
the party Visa the Palestinian cause this is a radical change in the history
1:20:00
of Britain we have never seen such a principled position emanate from the
1:20:08
labor party I I don't know if all are all of you listening translation yeah okay I
1:20:14
won't repeat it in English let me go ahead in in English and answer to the other other questions um I apologize to
1:20:22
the uh interpreters I'm speaking too fast I I I I've lived in New York for
1:20:27
too long uh uh to L Lise Dick's question uh
1:20:34
uh her her she mentions that she's the great granddaughter of someone killed by the British many many people are the
1:20:40
descendants of people who are killed or or otherwise harmed by British
1:20:46
imperialism or exiled or whatever people in my family people in every everyone
1:20:51
everyone I know has has a relative who has spent time uh or or suffered some
1:20:56
way in in that respect um and the question is really why an ethnocentric
1:21:02
model instead of a different kind of model and I think the better model is the South African model and you
1:21:08
mentioned that um and I think that just in answer to your question when and how
1:21:15
do we see the framework of a solution for Palestine change we'll see it change for one of two reasons we'll see it
1:21:21
change when and if the internation the balance of forces within the International Community changes and
1:21:27
there is sustained serious pressure for a different approach or we will see a
1:21:33
change when the process of the colonization of the territories occupied in 1967 has progressed to the point as
1:21:41
as Professor Lynch Professor link suggested that it may well have already done such that what has been created in
1:21:49
Palestine is a single state and the only question is how is that single state going to be run is it going to be run as
1:21:56
an ethnocracy for the benefit of less than half of the population who happen to be Jewish or will it be run on an
1:22:03
equitable basis a bational basis a canal basis some other basis um I don't think
1:22:08
that the transition to a different approach is going to be an easy
1:22:14
one there is a deep commitment to the idea of self-determination not just among Israelis who cling to Zionism but
1:22:21
also among Palestinians who many of whom at least prefer the idea of living in a Palestinian state to living in a joint
1:22:28
state with Israelis but if if that changes it will change because of the logic of the situation imposing itself
1:22:35
on all concerned and some would argue I I am partial to this view that that logic is already becoming manifest if
1:22:42
you go to Palestine it's very hard to see how one could disentangle uh the
1:22:47
occupied territories from greater Israel and the Israeli government works day and night to make it harder and harder to do
1:22:54
that in effect they are creating a single state now the only question then will be once that process succeeds if
1:23:01
the International Community with the in my view complicity and collusion of the
1:23:06
of of the of the major Powers allows that to happen the only question will be who rules that state is it ruled on
1:23:12
basis on a basis of equality of Rights on a basis of Justice on a democratic basis with preservation of the national
1:23:19
personalities of the two peoples or will it be ruled by one people at the expense of other and and that would be that
1:23:25
would be a question for the future not a question for me as a historian um to
1:23:31
Tanya barakat's question uh how would the International Community deal with the issue of absentee property as of
1:23:38
this moment in time this is an issue that's dealt with by sovereign powers within their territories um it's hard to
1:23:45
see how you could you I'm not a lawyer and I'm not certainly not an international lawyer but it's hard to
1:23:51
see how uh claims uh to property within what is a
1:23:57
sovereign state member state of the United Nations uh can be treated internationally there may be way a way to do it um it can certainly be argued
1:24:04
that the laws whereby the bulk of the property in Palestine was seized by the
1:24:09
Israeli State and is it can be used only for the benefit of the Jewish population cannot be used by its Palestinian
1:24:16
citizens even um is in some way discriminatory or racist but how One
1:24:22
deals with the power of a sovereign state is frankly Beyond me I'm not a lawyer um Mr mlen from New Jersey um you
1:24:32
you quoted a a statement by the British government it's one of several statements um it's it's the only one
1:24:39
that says anything decent actually a number of other statements have been made that are nowhere near uh as uh as
1:24:47
uh as uh evenhanded as this one um but
1:24:52
you ask why is it taking Britain 100 years to come to this point I don't think Britain has
1:24:58
fully evolved away from its past very few countries have um if one looks at
1:25:03
the crimes of the 20th century uh there are literally one or two countries that have come to terms with their crimes uh
1:25:11
some countries have Colonial crimes uh other crimes war crimes genocide many
1:25:18
many countries have great difficulty wrestling with their past and I don't think that Britain has very successful y
1:25:24
done it in this case uh and you can look at many other cases where the British Empire has inflicted great harm as as
1:25:31
well as in some cases doing other things um and I don't
1:25:36
think that Britain has come to terms with that I don't think most Colonial Powers have I don't think France has come to terms with its Colonial past I
1:25:43
don't think Japan has come to terms with its Colonial past as a historian I can say these things they're undiplomatic
1:25:48
things to say I I understand that but they're true um the United States hasn't come to terms with its past this is a
1:25:55
colonial settler Colony the name of the island on which we sit is is a Native American name this was a this was this
1:26:02
was a a place inhabited by an entirely different people uh before the 17th century um the entirety of the continent
1:26:10
I don't think the United States has come to terms with that it's very clear from what is emanates from the highest and lowest breach reaches of the American
1:26:17
government that the United States government hasn't come to terms with slavery so um I think you're asking a
1:26:23
question that has reson it's not just for Britain but for many many countries and it's a very hard it's a very hard
1:26:28
very hard question on the answers of Miss ashad um how much did the balfor
1:26:35
Declaration aim to eliminate Palestinian identity the balfor Declaration didn't
1:26:40
even recognize that the Palestinians existed so it would it it suggested and you can read a wonderful memo that
1:26:47
balfor wrote in 199 and it was secret for about 50 years 40 something years in
1:26:52
which he says we don't don't even propose to consult the the population of this
1:26:58
country Zionism is more important and that's what we're going to do it's it's a remarkable document so the British
1:27:05
paid absolutely no attention to the identity of the Palestinians on the contrary uh the the balar Declaration
1:27:11
talks about three about religious communities and the Palestinians were ruled by the British through religious
1:27:19
institutions the yeshu of the Jewish Community had a National Institution the Jewish agency set up in accordance with
1:27:25
the terms of the Mandate so it was a people recognized by the British and the League of Nations which was treated as a
1:27:31
people recognized had a representative body the Palestinians were never allowed any such thing you're right that didn't
1:27:37
succeed there's Palestinian identity if anything grew stronger as a result but that wasn't the British objective um an
1:27:45
apology I think there are actually more important things to do than ask Britain for an apology I would work for it if I
1:27:51
were in Britain I would be working for something like that um and I think it would be important that the British come
1:27:56
to recognize their role in Palestine and elsewhere uh but uh I don't think that in and of itself is going to make a huge
1:28:02
difference finally you ask me about the alien Exclusion Act the alien Exclusion Act came at a time when there was a
1:28:10
flood of refugees in particular from the zaris Empire because of a wave of
1:28:17
terrible pgrs which uh in which uh hundreds and hundreds of people were killed or raped or massacred or their
1:28:24
property was looted or their homes and and and shops were burned and these people were desperate to find
1:28:31
Refuge primar these these were Eastern European Jews mainly from the Russian Empire and many of them came to Britain
1:28:38
and there was a backlash there was a nativist backlash and there was a anti-immigration sentiment and Lord
1:28:45
balfor the conservative prime minister uh this may sound familiar to some of
1:28:51
you who've been following American politics for the last year uh Lord balfor basically rode this wave of
1:28:58
nativist anti-immigrant sentiment and was responsible for the passing of the alien Exclusion Act which which
1:29:05
restricted the uh the the immigration to Britain of refugees primarily Jewish
1:29:10
refugees uh from Eastern Europe uh so his most notable uh uh his most notable
1:29:15
act as far as the Jewish question was concerned before the balar Declaration was keeping refugees Jewish refugees out
1:29:23
of Britain thanks very much uh Prof um now time
1:29:32
management I have eight requests to take the floor I am so motivated by these uh
1:29:41
interactions but we don't have much time so I'm going to give all those ask place
1:29:50
to speak I'm going to give you time but please just go to the issue however Palestinians are watching and
1:29:56
are also asking for your solidarity support ma'am you have the floor uh Roma svi I'm an NGO
1:30:06
representative and I just have a question in the spirit of the United Nations Charter would have it have been
1:30:14
more useful today to have representatives of also the British
1:30:20
government and the Israeli government or someone from the Zionist so that we
1:30:26
could get a broader picture because I'm sure that their opinions are quite
1:30:31
different than the ones that have been expressed
1:30:36
here thank you ma'am for the future and uh at the back
1:30:42
there at the back yes sir go ahead um thank you uh my name is Kasam I am a
1:30:49
Palestinian journalist um I have a question for uh Professor khi uh the buffer Declaration
1:30:56
was written from the perspective of a European view of history and of the word
1:31:02
the Jewish question in Need for solution for a solution uh to a European dilemma
1:31:08
today the question continues to be reviewed through a western lens on many
1:31:13
levels in large parts of Academia and of media the story of the conflict is
1:31:19
discussed starting from the Jewish story in World War II um in politics the
1:31:25
conflict starts to be discussed uh starting from Israel's security needs even in negotiations and in peace
1:31:33
process uh for example Israel security needs have been discussed the Palestinian refugees question not yet
1:31:40
maybe part of that is part of that may be blamed in our own negotiators who allowed that to happen but my question
1:31:47
is if this pattern of understanding history including the present from an
1:31:52
may I say an orientalist point of view continues to be dominant in the Spheres of decision making something like 50
1:31:59
years after the decolonization started how do you think as a historian that or
1:32:05
do you think as a historian that uh the word has come any closer than it was 100
1:32:12
years ago to um recognizing Justice for the Palestinian cause thank you thank
1:32:18
you very much uh my sister here at the first Ro
1:32:27
yeah go ahead thank you for giving me the floor my name is lby Redhawk I am a
1:32:32
NGO representative at the UN I'd like to bring our attention to the Durban
1:32:38
declaration and program of action and that it was uh adopted at the World
1:32:43
Conference Against Racism of course to address issues of racism discrimination
1:32:49
and um xenophobia I quote from the ddpa concerning rning the Middle East the
1:32:55
ddpa expressed its concern about the plight of the Palestinian people under foreign occupation and recognizes the
1:33:02
inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and the right to an independent state it also
1:33:08
recognizes the right to security for all countries in the region including Israel and calls upon all governments to
1:33:15
support the peace process and bring it to an early conclusion I'd like to ask since it is the Mandate uh for the
1:33:22
office of the high commission for human rights to play an active role I would like to know what that office is doing
1:33:28
in terms of pushing back on the resistance of the Israeli government to
1:33:34
sideline the enactment of the ddpa and uh make it a lesser document that forces
1:33:42
other member states not to respond to thank you for the floor thank you there
1:33:48
was um a hand the row after where the was standing no the the there's a lady Bing
1:33:55
her head one two three she's not here oh now I go right at the back on the right
1:34:02
hand side yes keep keep your hand up yeah okay go ahead good
1:34:08
afternoon my name is do Rosalie Gonzalez I'm faculty at Arizona State University and I'm also the elected uh
1:34:15
co-coordinator for the Continental network of indigenous women of the Americas I welcome your presentation
1:34:21
today and I also welcome your your answer that you just gave regarding the
1:34:26
unreconcilable um or unreconciled uh historic reality that we uh still do not
1:34:33
consider um the experiences of indigenous peoples and First Nations not only in the US but around the world I
1:34:39
want to emphasize that as a child um my elders International leaders and Elders
1:34:44
always viewed as as long as I can remember maybe in my young late teens um
1:34:50
that they viewed and felt in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for sovereignty and
1:34:55
self-determination as one that we also um have struggled with however um what
1:35:01
comes to mind from this presentation is um jaapos the fact that we recently celebrated 40 Years of the first entry
1:35:09
of indigenous people to the United Nations which was uh welcomed with a lot of resistance and has shifted you know
1:35:16
in 40 years um and then most recently only 10 years ago we had the adoption of
1:35:22
a declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples I find it really interesting that you identified your
1:35:28
opening you know introduction of the Palestinian people as indigenous um this is a a very um to us it's a very
1:35:36
politicized it's a very specific term uh now with International rights tied to it
1:35:42
and so I wonder um what is the significance uh and the utility of identifying Palestinians as indigenous
1:35:49
thank you thank you and then the floor down
1:35:54
yes raise your hand yeah go ahead uh thank you my name is Sarah willig I'm an NGO representative uh isn't it
1:36:01
hypocritical for you to support self-determination for all but to call a declaration of support for Jewish
1:36:08
self-determination in their ancestral Homeland a quote a gun to the head and
1:36:13
doesen denigrating Jewish self-determination in the balford Declaration indicate that the conflict isn't about borders but about
1:36:20
Palestinian rejection of the existence of a Jewish State and State on any
1:36:27
borders thank you and uh there was a hand yes yes my sister yeah ra just
1:36:32
raise your hand yeah go go ahead hello my name is suzan suan a Palestinian
1:36:39
refugee from Lebanon I'm a journalist I want to ask you about something Britain's spokesman Edwin Samuel said a
1:36:45
few months ago that his country considers that Bel for Declaration was the reason for the neba but at the same
1:36:52
time he said that his country can't apologize because it will be an obstacle
1:36:57
to the peace process how can you explain that please thank you thank you I'm
1:37:03
going to the top I'm very encouraged by the ladies the only on I think it takes it
1:37:12
it's good for history at the back there yes I think second round okay go
1:37:22
ahead oh so sorry I actually just wanted to answer the the question that was uh
1:37:28
asked about the repatriation of Palestinian refugees um and two points that I wanted to bring up to answer that
1:37:34
question um first was that I think the Palestinian situation is the only situation wherein the actual negotiation
1:37:41
of the return itself was was made in all other situations of conflict where there
1:37:47
were where there were refugees the issues of negotiation were the conditions of the return itself for
1:37:54
examp and this included looking at the rights of the primary uh homeowners
1:38:00
being the Palestinians in this case and the rights of the secondary and the timeline of the return to their home and
1:38:07
what restitution accompanied that for example in Bosnia uh restitution was
1:38:13
conditioned on return right um so that's what we I hope that we can begin
1:38:18
discussing about the Palestinian refugees not whether they have a right to return to their homes but looking at
1:38:25
examples of the conditions of that return and how we make that return Su
1:38:30
sustainable look at the South African model look at the Bosnian model and other successful models thank
1:38:40
you then two the CL for your concrete suggestions now there are two ladies
1:38:46
there like twins any of you raise your hand then give to the next one yeah go ahead
1:38:54
thank you uh Susan Smith and Shirley Feb we we're with the Muslim peace Fellowship uh an NGO and um I would like
1:39:01
to ask a question that is forward-looking and uh Dr haldi uh succinctly spoke about the Log Jam
1:39:09
created by great powers and we've seen that in recent history for example um
1:39:14
with uh the United States uh not signing on to the Paris climate Accords not uh
1:39:20
signing on to the nuclear um uh treat Ban Treaty um and also just a week or so
1:39:27
ago pulling out of this very August chamber the uh e uh economic and social
1:39:32
Council so in spite of all that most member states have put their full
1:39:38
support with the Palestinian people we recognize Palestinian statehood and
1:39:44
sovereignty and Universal human rights so my question is moving forward how can
1:39:50
uh the the uh members of this law organization galvanized to reclaim
1:39:57
control of the security Council which puts um puts puts a kabash on all the
1:40:03
good works that this this uh this organization attempts to
1:40:09
do thank you next door hi I'm sh yeah hi I'm Shirley Fab
1:40:16
from the Muslim peace Fellowship um my question is how can the United Nations
1:40:21
um give Palestine more agency see in um these peace talks because a lot of times it's like more peace talking at
1:40:28
Palestinians than having real negotiations so because and especially
1:40:33
because the UN is instrumental in in not only um creating the situation but kind
1:40:39
of like keeping it going what can you do to give them real agency and real equity in this fight because if they don't have
1:40:45
it if they don't have a real floor it's it's really not going to go anywhere in my opinion thank
1:40:51
you thank you so I'm going to give um Professor
1:40:57
KH the chance to reply then I'll will make some remarks at the end thank you thank you very very
1:41:04
much thank you for all of these questions by the way um this is a better question session that I get in some of
1:41:10
my classes so you know I'm really en I'm enjoying this um very briefly I'll start
1:41:16
from the end and go backwards uh the question by Miss Fab surely up at the
1:41:21
top uh how can the UN give the Palestinians more agency in the peace talks I my my view of this is it's up to
1:41:28
the Palestinians to do it themselves I think a great deal can be demanded of the International Community because of
1:41:33
the role of the International Community in in creating and in failing to resolve
1:41:39
this problem but in the last analysis the the peoples themselves have to deal with this whether the Israelis or the
1:41:44
Palestinians Israelis have a government they their their their side of it is settled Palestinians do not have yet a
1:41:52
unified clear uh upto-date in my view strategy for dealing with the 21st
1:41:58
century um there was an approach uh in the in the in the 80s and the 90s I I
1:42:04
think it's fairly clear that that approach has failed there was a strategy I think it's clear that strategy has failed I think it's up to the
1:42:09
Palestinians to reunify their ranks to put together a new strategy and I think you have they have to depend on
1:42:15
themselves in that respect I think Lise or someone one of the questioners said something about that uh the questioner
1:42:21
in Arabic uh and and and there is an element of that uh International solidarity is absolutely essential this
1:42:27
is a moral responsibility of the International Community but it is
1:42:33
primarily the responsibility of the peoples involved and specifically as far as the Palestinians are concerned to uh
1:42:39
reorganize their ranks to and to and to come up with a with a more effective strategy for dealing with a much more
1:42:46
difficult situation in 2017 than I think they' faced it many times in the past um
1:42:52
the previous questioner also from the NGO Muslims for peace the Muslim peace Fellowship uh how can members of the
1:43:01
United Nations get control of the UN Security Council well the ambassadors are here you can ask
1:43:07
them I am coming from the outside I I don't think I'm the person to to answer that question but um there are various
1:43:15
mechanisms there's a uniting for peace resolution Professor link suggested that it is high time to to to consider on the
1:43:22
basis of the N I model going to uniting for peace if the UN Security Council is
1:43:27
part of the problem rather than the resolution if the people who have managed a peace process which has created process and no peace for decades
1:43:35
we are in the third decade of the so-called peace process no peace yet
1:43:40
then perhaps another approach should be followed but I it's not really for me to say how uh as far as suzan slman
1:43:48
Palestinian um the Palestinian journalist
1:43:55
um I can't read my I can't read my my uh my notes um could you could you repeat
1:44:01
your your question I am a professor who can't can't read his handwriting could you repeat your question please I'm
1:44:08
sorry I apologize raise your hand yeah I see her she's over there as I said Britain's spokesman Edwin Samuel said a
1:44:15
few months ago that his country considers that bord declaration I remember was the reason I remember I
1:44:21
sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry so the question was uh British Minister made a made a statement in which he he he he
1:44:29
stated that the bord Declaration was the reason for the neba but he couldn't the Britain couldn't apologize because an
1:44:35
apology would be an obstruct would obstruct the peace process this is the worst excuse I have ever heard there is
1:44:42
no peace process there has been no peace process in my view for more than a decade so to say we mustn't do we
1:44:51
mustn't do X we mustn't do why it will disturb the
1:44:57
peace process is perhaps the most hypocritical thing anyone can say were there a peace process one might respect
1:45:04
such a statement but in a situation where it has been more abund dead injected with formaly for a
1:45:13
generation to say that this this zombie has to be protected is it defies reason
1:45:21
um as to the question by Miss willig who said that it was hypocritical for me to
1:45:27
call for self-determination for all and that my description of the balfor Declaration as a gun to a to the head of
1:45:34
the Palestinians in some ways denied the idea of Jewish self-determination perhaps she didn't hear the second to
1:45:41
last paragraph of what I said I'll repeat it for her it is high time that
1:45:47
the establishment of a national home promised by Balor in the League of Nations to the Jewish people in 1917 and
1:45:52
afterward Words Be matched by the establishment of a national home for the
1:45:57
Palestinian people I'm not denying the existence of the Jewish people I'm not
1:46:03
denying their rights I'm not denying that they have a right to a national home I simply said this should be
1:46:09
matched by a national home for the Palestinian people I went on to say after 70 years it is high time that the
1:46:16
national self-determination promised to the Israeli people by the by the United Nations in 47 and that they have enjoyed
1:46:24
since 1948 also be enjoyed by the Palestinian people how you can twist
1:46:30
that into denialism is beyond me unless your microphone maybe you weren't hearing what I actually said and you had
1:46:36
a pre-prepared question I there are several things on the internet which mention uh similar things
1:46:44
about a lecture I gave a couple of months ago um Dr Gonzalez from Arizona
1:46:51
State I I I agree with you I I think that seeing the
1:46:57
Palestinian uh issue in terms of a colonial process and in terms of
1:47:04
indigeneity actually gives it a depth and a richness and and a veracity which
1:47:10
is missed in many ways of of of approaching the problem and it also shows similarities to other cases now
1:47:17
that's not to say that Palestine equals North America or Palestine equal
1:47:23
Australia or Namibia or South Africa or Algeria it does not these are each different situations and this is a
1:47:29
situation where I've tried to say this the Zionist movement was not just not
1:47:35
just a colonial movement it was also a national movement the Zionist movement created or recreated you can use
1:47:40
whichever term you want the sense of a Jewish people in modern 20th century nationalist terms that is a reality okay
1:47:47
nationalism is full of myths full of falsehoods but nationalism is a reality Palestinian nationalism is full of myths
1:47:55
going back to the Canaanites and the jebusites French nationalism is full of myths okay vers and jedic spoke a
1:48:03
Germanic dialect the guls they were Germans but you know the French were
1:48:08
taught during the third Republic The ancestral peoplehood of the
1:48:14
French going back to the GS was part of the French national myth that's okay French nationalism is not illegitimate
1:48:21
because a historian Decon structs the mythology of Joon of Arc who was fighting for a french-speaking king
1:48:28
against another frenchspeaking king the king of France spoke French the king of England spoke French they were both
1:48:35
Norman Franco Norman aristocrats the English French national aspect of of
1:48:40
that struggle only comes much much much later uh uh uh so nationalism is a
1:48:48
enormous enormous topic and the mythologies of nationalism of Zionism of Palestinian nationalism of every n
1:48:54
nationalism are easy to deconstruct the important thing is that this these are National movements the Palestinians
1:49:01
developed a national movement Zionism is a national movement it used Colonial settler methodology it Allied itself
1:49:07
with a colonial power it talked about itself as a colonial settler movement the agency that bought most of the 6% of
1:49:15
Palestine that was purchased by the Zionist movement before 1948 was called the Jewish colonization agency this is
1:49:23
not a slur on the Zionist movement by some Palestinian anti-semite this is the
1:49:28
self-description of the agency that purchased most of the land that the
1:49:34
Zionist movement was able to acquire the six or s% that it was able to acquire before 1948 it was a proudly
1:49:40
self-described Colonial movement that's not that's not some kind of slur that's
1:49:46
a fact as is the indigen of the Palestinian people it's a fact it's a painful fact perhaps but it's a
1:49:53
fact um Miss Miss Redhawk uh NGO
1:50:00
representative um I I can't really answer your question about the uh uh uh
1:50:05
uh High Commissioner for human rights I I really don't know the answer to it I wish that I did um Mr Abdi the
1:50:14
journalist um yeah you you've said that the the balar
1:50:20
Declaration involved a European View you and that's correct and you say that today Palestine
1:50:28
is viewed through the same lens in the media by politicians and an Academia and in terms only of Israeli
1:50:35
security needs and so forth um I I differ I would beg to differ with
1:50:41
you I think that it's true that uh in many countries the United States in
1:50:47
particular Great Britain to a certain extent on the political level um that if
1:50:52
if you want eurocentric lens is still in place for many people but there is change taking place look at what happens
1:50:59
at the conventions of the labor party and the Democratic party in this country over the last couple of years that's a
1:51:05
those are political conferences and see how the discourse is beginning to change now I'm not saying you know the dawn is
1:51:12
about to break uh the end of the mythology whereby we see everything in
1:51:18
terms of Israel is about to be to be shattered no that's not happened on the political level in terms of the media it
1:51:24
has not happened but in Academia on college campuses there is a there's a lively debate when I was undergraduate
1:51:31
which is much before many of you were born in this country there was no debate
1:51:36
there was one point of view it did not Encompass any Arab or Palestinian or
1:51:43
third world perspectives it was a European eurocentric Colonial Point of
1:51:48
View that was the only point of view and an Israeli point of view and they were the more or less the same that's 50 60
1:51:54
years ago things have significantly changed that's not to say that the point of view that I personally would prefer
1:52:00
or a point of view that I would consider as objective is the only one in Academia there are many many points of view and
1:52:06
that is a good thing and that is a major change from 50 or 60 or 40 years ago so
1:52:12
there is there is actually change taking place there's change taking place in the Jewish community in this country
1:52:17
important changes are taking place among young people among minorities among many many people in this country in Britain
1:52:23
as well in France as well just as there's greater resistance in some cases there's also uh greater I would say
1:52:31
Awakening uh to a multiplicity of of points of view um I think that's
1:52:40
it I'm [Applause]
1:52:47
done there's one more sorry there was one more there was somebody who who
1:52:53
suggested I I I I forget her name I apologize she said that uh she wished
1:52:58
that there would be representatives of the British and the Israeli governments yes a representative of NGO I'm sorry I
1:53:05
didn't catch your name um resp are you going to respond to this okay let me
1:53:11
just say I his Excellency will respond but just let let me say I I actually
1:53:16
think that the points of view of the British and the Israeli government over many many years have been quite widely
1:53:24
disseminated I I I I understand that there is an
1:53:30
absolute there's an absolute uh uh demand sometimes for what is called
1:53:35
balance and I would be the last person to say that there shouldn't be a certain kind of balance but this is an issue on
1:53:40
which frankly Great Britain has had a 100 years to put its point of view Great Britain was the greatest Empire in world
1:53:46
history up until World War II um in this country there was no other point of view than the point of view of Israel or of
1:53:53
the Zionist movement for Generation after generation after generation after generation today mercifully there are
1:54:00
other points of view and I'm glad that I was given the opportunity to present my point of view today thank you very
1:54:11
much well well well well what an
1:54:19
afternoon um we're going to thank Prof but before I go
1:54:25
there I am reliably informed by the
1:54:31
co-organizers that all all UN member states were
1:54:37
invited including the UK and Israel to this meeting no one was left behind they
1:54:44
were all asked to attend so those who chose not to come
1:54:51
exercised that Dem right to do so
1:54:56
secondly I think the thrust of this meeting in solidarity with Palestinian
1:55:02
people is let's
1:55:08
fulfill the unfulfilled promise at the
1:55:13
time when Palestinian land was partitioned one state was
1:55:20
created one St state is not yet
1:55:26
born one St has already have grandchildren once it has not been born I think the request is let's go back to
1:55:33
our promises in the process there's been so many
1:55:41
solutions K Davis are courts I don't know what has happened to
1:55:47
it the Arab states put what I thought was the
1:55:54
most viable realistic alternative it has just
1:56:01
disappeared then there was the Oslo Accord there were so many attempts I
1:56:07
think especially by the neighbors and all of us to say maybe this is the way
1:56:14
to resolve this problem but also I think let's let's
1:56:21
thank the neighbors of
1:56:26
Palestine they've really born the brand of this massive power in the
1:56:34
region they've suffered economically sometime they are bombed
1:56:41
sometime they are threatened but I think they stood support in keeping
1:56:47
Palestinian alive I think all of us we owe to the neighbors of pal
1:56:53
for this maybe I should term it a sacrifice they are we we we we we knew
1:57:01
that I think Namibia The Liberation movement in southern
1:57:06
Africa paid tribute fin State Zambia
1:57:11
Zimbabwe all of them for bearing the brand of um the aparted regime and its
1:57:20
machinations so as we conclude and withdrew let's not
1:57:26
forget that the Arab countries the neighbors continuously bear the brand of
1:57:32
this and perhaps uh thank Egypt for the latest
1:57:41
Repro and of Palestinian people I think we should really thank them and all the
1:57:48
neighboring countries to set to ourian rades please unite you make it
1:57:54
easy if you are united support your struggles now the question is all of us
1:58:02
interational Community what do we do what do we
1:58:08
do I think let's keep the Flames of solidarity let's keep the flame of
1:58:15
support going so that we can then support those near the crule of Fire fire in the
1:58:23
region to go on and on the campaigns have to
1:58:29
continue at the end of the day there have to be a political solution to this
1:58:36
problem at the end of the day our Palestinian brothers and sisters have to
1:58:43
sit together with Israelis brother and sisters and work out a solution a
1:58:48
compromise we can only support and we have to support at all
1:58:56
times Prof was saying that there is a bit of imbalance so we need to support
1:59:02
Palestinians so that we create that delicate equilibrium that's what Paul
1:59:09
says I believe in that we have enjoyed that you know I was a refugees for close
1:59:15
to 20 years and I can imagine the pain of people waiting to go
1:59:23
back home to the Fatherland or to the motherland I can imagine the
1:59:31
feeling of I'm going home in our case namia it wasn't
1:59:37
negotiated you announce you go but it seems palestin have to negotiate to go
1:59:44
back it's very very sad it's very
1:59:49
sad that uh the
1:59:55
emotions The Passion of going home that orientates
2:00:01
you among your people your culture your religion have to be negotiated but let's
2:00:08
hope let's hope that as we as the the pr continue and bearing in mind the
2:00:15
historic lessons you know Prof punctuated his lessons this a lecture
2:00:21
with many many examples and among you participant you brought so
2:00:28
many advises or suggestions on how to move let's keep going
2:00:35
on accompaning Palestinian aging
2:00:40
Israelis all of us in one rout towards peace between Palestine and Israel
2:00:49
because we believe that will unlock a massive peace process in the entire
2:00:54
Middle East and once and for all I think we'll see an up surge of economically Rising
2:01:02
developing Middle East on the back of peace between Israel and Palestine so so we need to deal with that issue to
2:01:10
unlock that massive potential for the
2:01:15
peaceful sustainable development in the Middle East having said
2:01:20
that I excellencies ladies and gentlemen on behalf of the committee on on the
2:01:26
exercise of Palestinian in rights of Palestinian people I would like to thank you all for your attendance and
2:01:35
insightful questions 47 questions were answered to
2:01:40
me this is history by 80% of participant
2:01:46
who were women I think we must applaud the women
2:01:56
please visit the links on the screens I'm told to find out more about the
2:02:02
commune here is marketing from Jina subscribes to and follow the social
2:02:09
media you have a lot of journalists here and share information about the event
2:02:15
you and your colleagues are organizing professor khed
2:02:22
literature we have no words to thank
2:02:27
you absolutely just no ways than you but
2:02:32
thanks for sharing with us the depth of your knowledge your research and the passion to see you
2:02:40
people to be free thank you it is always such a very great pleasure colleagues to see somebody like Professor khed who
2:02:47
could live a Wonderful Life as a professor but stay in the cause for free
2:02:54
Palestine so thank you so much Professor khed the committee and all of you we
2:03:03
want to extend our sincere appreciation to the UN division who organize this thing for
2:03:09
Palestinian rights um and self-determination may I thank you
2:03:16
all and I wish you a pleasant evening the meeting is ained thanks
2:03:24
you forgot about the literature oh is a literature there the at the end the
2:03:29
there of that door is a literature please take some as you move on thank you very
2:03:50
much
2:04:12
Professor please
2:04:20
sorry
2:04:30
right you need to have the
2:04:50
correct thank you very
2:05:20
goodat
2:05:27
that's
2:05:35
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everything
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e
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spe
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0 Comm
