Hamas Movement on Tuesday described the Balfour Declaration as “the crime of the century”, saying that Britain must apologize for it and compensate Palestinians.

The Movement said in a statement that Britain must atone for the historical injustice caused to a people with existence, culture and history by apologizing to Palestinians and helping refugees to return to their lands from which they were forcibly displaced.

The statement noted that Britain, during its occupation of Palestine, worked by all means to implement the Balfour Declaration and appointed pro-Zionist British officials to pave the way for the establishment of a “national homeland for Jews in Palestine” ignoring the rights of the Palestinian population of this country.

The Balfour Declaration, Hamas added, has opened the door for regional wars, conflicts, suffering and bloodshed.

Hamas stressed that the Declaration, which was based on “granting a land without people to a people without land”, is a lie that contradicts the given reality on the ground, adding that “Palestinians have been entrenched in Palestine like olive trees”.

The Movement slammed Britain’s Prime Minister, Theresa May, who has stated that she will celebrate the centenary of the Balfour declaration with pride in continuation of her disregard for the suffering of the Palestinian people.

The statement underlined that the long years of occupation have unified the Palestinian people and reinforced their self-reliance.

Hamas warned that Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu‘s dream to celebrate the centenary of the Balfour Declaration will be short lived because the Palestinian fighters will restore the rights of the  Palestinian people in the near future.

The Balfour Declaration is the name given to a letter sent by Britain’s Foreign Secretary, Arthur James Balfour, to Lord Lionel Walter Rothschild on 2nd November 1917 to announce Britain’s full support for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

Featured image is from PIC.