100 Years of the Balfour Declaration: Why the Balfour Declaration is Still Crucial

Who owns the legal title deed to the most hotly contested piece of real estate in the world? Again and again we are told that Israel “illegally occupies” this territory and that their communities in Judea and Samaria “violate international law.” But is this true? This year marks the 100-year anniversary of the Balfour Declaration in England, the first time in history that a nation recognized the right of the Jewish people to their historic homeland. But what legal impact did this declaration have?

In this lesson you will understand what happens when history is ignored. Discover that at the end of World War I the Ottoman Empire broke up. New nations were formed which had never before existed. Learn how these new borders and nations came into existence. In England Arthur Balfour had already seen his declaration seeking a homeland for Jews become policy. But this declaration had no legal force.

In this study Dr. Dean will explain how the British government’s policy became international law and established the legal foundations for Israel’s title to all of the land west of the Jordan River. It is not Israel, but the Palestinians who are the illegal occupiers who violate international law.

This session was presented at the 2017 Israel Today Symposium at Temple Shalom, Dallas, Texas.