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Seminar "100 Years of Balfour Declaration" in Hanoi

Tuesday, 07 November 2017 14:43

Hanoi - On Tuesday 7th November 2017, the Embassy of the State of Palestine in Hanoi and the Institute for Africa and Middle East Studies (IAMES) of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences co-organized a round-table discussion entitled “100 Years of Balfour Declaration” to introduce to researchers and those who are interested in the Middle East about the Balfour Declaration and its consequences for the region, particularly for the Palestinian people.

In his remarks, Dr. Nguyen Manh Hung, IAMES Director General, expressed the honor and happiness to welcome all participants to the discussion and believed that there should be more events like this in the coming time for the youth to gain a better understanding of history and a better vision for the future.

H.E. Mr. Saadi Salama, Ambassador of the State of Palestine in Hanoi, said that this year Palestine has a lot of activities to mark 100 years of the Balfour Declaration and to this day, the United Kingdom still evades its historic responsibility by refusing to apologize to a nation still living in exile and under occupation as the result of their politicians’ unethical undertaking in 1917.

“As we mark one hundred years since the Balfour Declaration, the British government has reiterated how proud they are of this infamous document that translated into the Palestinian catastrophe, with all of its regional and global repercussions. They are even going to celebrate it. Instead of organizing a celebration for one of the darkest episodes of British colonialism, the United Kingdom has the historical and moral responsibility to apologize to the people of Palestine. At the same time, we call upon the British Government to assume without delay reparative actions, by recognizing the State of Palestine on the 1967 border with East Jerusalem as its capital and taking concrete steps to contribute to the realization of the political rights of the Palestinian people, the very rights that were denied by Balfour a century ago. 
This will not repair the countless detrimental consequences of foreign colonialism in our region, and particularly in Palestine, but it would serve as an example for the rest of the international community to rise to their responsibilities to do what is necessary for a just and lasting Palestinian-Israeli peace, and for broader peace in the Middle East to become a reality, changing the course of our future, individual and collective, for the better for our coming generations.”

After the informative presentation about the Balfour Declaration of Ambassador Saadi Salama and the screening of a meaningful short film entitled “100 Balfour Road”, participants had an open and interesting discussion about the declaration and related issues.