Page 6 - TORCH #16 - August 2020

ZIONIST
PART PROTECTING THE
TWO BALFOUR DECLARATION
CHURCHILL THE
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CUFI.ORG.UK
In 1921, Churchill confronted Arab pressure to scrap the Balfour Declaration by saying that even if it was within his power it wouldn’t be his wish. An Arab delegation appealed to Churchill to veto Jewish immigration to Palestine and abolish the idea of a national home for the Jews. Churchill boldly responded, “It is manifestly right that the Jews, who are scattered all over the world, should have a national centre and a national home where some of them may be reunited. And where else could that be but in this land
of Palestine, with which for more than 3,000 years they have been intimately and profoundly associated? We think it will be good for the world, good for the Jews and good for the British Empire. But we also think it will be good for the Arabs who dwell in Palestine.”
He later remarked, “I am myself perfectly convinced that the cause of Zionism is one which carries with it much that is good for the whole world, and not only for the Jewish people.”
But in 1922, the Balfour Declaration was under immense threat from what should have been the most unlikely of places – Parliament. Incredibly, the House of Lords voted against the Declaration, declaring that the Palestine Mandate was unacceptable over concerns
that it would provide a Jewish minority with powers over the Arab majority. It was a defining moment in Britain’s support for a Jewish
homeland. In a powerful, commanding speech, Churchill addressed the Commons in defence of the Balfour Declaration. Described by
some historians as one of Churchill’s greatest speeches he ever gave, this crucial speech
led to a vote in favour of the Palestine policy, reversing the vote in the House of Lords. The principles of the mandate became known as the Churchill White Paper and was approved by the League of Nations on 22nd July 1922. From Churchill’s 1922 White Paper, the Jewish population of Palestine grew from 80,000 to 380,000 between 1922 and 1936. While the Arab population also grew, the right of the Jews to immigrate to Palestine was firmly established. The White Paper also reassured the Arabs that the Balfour Declaration would deprive them of nothing, saying that the Jews had a place in their ancestral lands “as of
right not of sufferance....For the fulfilment of this policy it is necessary that the Jewish community in Palestine should be able to increase its numbers by immigration.”
A witness to the miraculous
Churchill’s support for the Zionist dream was unwavering. In Parliament on July 1932, Churchill appealed to the House of Commons “to stand faithfully to the undertakings which have been given in the name of Britain and interpret in an