The Balfour Declaration: 100 years on

The centenary has been marked in very different ways around the world – with British graffiti artist Banksy creating a satirical installation in Bethlehem.

It has been 100 years since the Balfour Declaration, a 67-word statement that laid the foundations for the establishment of Israel.

Around the world, Israelis and Palestinians are marking the centenary of the widely-contested declaration in very different ways.

The Balfour Declaration, made public on November 2, 1917, is seen as the starting point of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The statement, written during World War One by the then British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour, endorsed the establishment of a Jewish homeland in the Middle East.

SBS ARABIC24: Talkback – Balfour Declaration 100th anniversary

This week, Israelis and Palestinians are marking the centenary of the Declaration, which holds very different narratives in their respective histories.

Palestinians have long condemned the declaration, while Tom Segev, an Israeli historian said Israel “owes its existence to the Balfour declaration.”

Read the report from SBS TV (Reuters).