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Palestinian for legal proceedings against British govt soon

Published : 02 Nov 2017, 23:02

DF-Xinhua Report

A girl raises signs against the Balfour declaration in the West Bank city of Nablus on Nov. 1, 2017. November 2 marks 100 years since the Balfour declaration, which is the name given to the letter dated in 1917 from the United Kingdom's Foreign Secretary back then Arthur James Balfour to Lord Lionel Walter Rothschild, who was then a leader of the British Jewish community, announcing the British support for the Jewish people to build their state on the lands of Palestine. Photo Xinhua.

Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riad Malki sad Thursday that the legal proceedings against the British government will soon start before British courts in order to alleviate the consequences of the Balfour Declaration.

According to a statement by the foreign ministry, Malki said that after all efforts by Palestine failed to convince the British government to call off its celebrations of the Balfour declaration centennial, his ministry will soon act to bring legal proceedings before British courts.

The statement explained that the ministry will hire a British law firm to follow up the legal procedures "in order to bring justice and alleviate the historic injustice inflicted on the Palestinian people, and compel the British government to apologize and make reasonable compensation for that tragedy."

The ministry said it would encourage individuals who were affected by the implementation of the Balfour declaration, especially holders of British citizenship, to go for similar legal claims.

Malki said that the ministry is examining possibility of going through legal proceedings before European and international courts as well.