Balfour Declaration

“The Balfour Declaration was a letter dated 2 November 1917 from the United Kingdom's Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, a leader of the British Jewish community, for transmission to the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland” Thanks Wikipedia!  It is directly linked with a peace treaty with the Ottoman Empire and with a mandate with the Palestinians.  Interesting stuff, eh?  

So why am I bringing this up here?  Well, this is all something that has affected the world and it is something that we can relate to.  It is something that has affected a long term issue in the Middle east and has affected the world which we live in.  Was it adopted as part of the law, however?  Normally I would have even thought of this question, but Pat James did when he asked the Foreign and Commonwealth office. Looking at his request, he seemed to be VERY tetchy about this issue.  

This is one of those requests which is probably an emotive issue and is about a difficult topic.  The fact remains, if you look at the way he talked to the FCO then it’s not the nicest.  Anyway, I digress.  Have a little look at his request. It does provided a heck of a lot of information at the end of the request, which is an interesting read.

The reasons that I bring this to you is purely because it shows two things.  The first is it shows how big an issue this Balfour declaration was. I never knew we had such influence in this area, let alone even knew that he had the correspondence about it still in circulation.  It goes to show what we can get if we ask for it.  Not only that but gives us more context for the situation that is in the Middle East.  

The second is I really don't like the way that this man has been with the FCO.  When you are making a request you should keep some civility about your request.  I can honestly say that I found this a bit insulting to the people who had to read it.  Surely they are worth some respect.  Maybe it is the organization, not the individual, they are annoyed with. Remember that the Arab - Israeli conflict is a long and complex topic and it doesn't need more hostility.  I think that it has enough to go around for everyone.