The Balfour Declaration of 1917 (dated 2 November 1917) was a classified formal statement of policy by the British government stating that the British government "view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people "with the understanding that "nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."
The declaration was made in a letter from Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Lord Rothschild (Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild), a leader of the British Jewish community, for transmission to the Zionist Federation, a private Zionist organization. The letter reflected the position of the British Cabinet, as agreed upon in a meeting on 31 October 1917. It further stated that the declaration is a sign of "sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations."
The statement was issued through the efforts of Chaim Weizmann and Nahum Sokolow, the principal Zionist leaders based in London but, as they had asked for the reconstitution of Palestine as “the” Jewish national home, the Declaration fell short of Zionist expectations.
The "Balfour Declaration" was later incorporated into the Sèvres peace treaty with Turkey and the Mandate for Palestine. The original document is kept at the British Library.
Original Text Declaration of Balfour 1917:
November 2nd, 1917
Dear Lord Rothschild,
I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet.
"His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."
I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.
Yours sincerely,
Arthur James Balfour
Bahasa Malaysia translation:
Departemen Luar Negeri
2 November 1917
Lord Rothschild yang terhormat,
Saya sangat senang dalam menyampaikan kepada Anda, atas nama Pemerintahan Sri Baginda, pernyataan simpati terhadap aspirasi Zionis Yahudi yang telah diajukan kepada dan disetujui oleh Kabinet.
"Pemerintahan Sri Baginda memandang positif pendirian di Palestina tanah air untuk orang Yahudi, dan akan menggunakan usaha keras terbaik mereka untuk memudahkan tercapainya tujuan ini, karena jelas dipahami bahwa tidak ada suatupun yang boleh dilakukan yang dapat merugikan hak-hak penduduk dan keagamaan dari komunitas-komunitas non-Yahudi yang ada di Palestina, ataupun hak-hak dan status politis yang dimiliki orang Yahudi di negara-negara lainnya ."
Saya sangat berterima kasih jika Anda dapat menyampaikan deklarasi ini untuk diketahui oleh Federasi Zionis.
Yang Benar,
Arthur James Balfour
Negotiation
One of the main proponents of a Jewish homeland in Palestine was Dr. Chaim Weizmann, the leading spokesman for organized Zionism in Britain. Weizmann was a chemist who had developed a process to synthesize acetone via fermentation. Acetone is required for the production of cordite, a powerful propellant explosive needed to fire ammunition without generating tell-tale smoke. Germany had cornered supplies of calcium acetate, a major source of acetone. Other pre-war processes in Britain were inadequate to meet the increased demand in World War I, and a shortage of cordite would have severely hampered Britain's war effort. Lloyd-George, then Minister for Munitions, was grateful to Weizmann and so supported his Zionist aspirations. In his War Memoirs, Lloyd George wrote of meeting Weizmann in 1916 that Weizmann
- ... explained his aspirations as to the repatriation of the Jews to the sacred land they had made famous. That was the fount and origin of the famous declaration about the National Home for the Jews in Palestine .... As soon as I became Prime Minister I talked the whole matter over with Mr Balfour, who was then Foreign Secretary.
However, this version of the story of the declaration's origins has been described as "fanciful", a fair assessment considering that discussions between Weizmann and Balfour had begun at least a decade earlier. In late 1905 Balfour had requested of his Jewish constituency representative, Charles Dreyfus, that he arrange a meeting with Weizman, during which Weizman asked for official British support for Zionism, and they were to meet again on this issue in 1914.
During the first meeting between Weizmann and Balfour in 1906, Balfour asked what Weizmann's objections were to the idea of a Jewish homeland in Uganda rather than in Palestine. According to Weizmann's memoir, the conversation went as follows:
Weizmann ialah kimiawan yang berjaya mensintesiskan aseton melalui fermentasi. Aseton diperlukan dalam menghasilkan cordite, bahan pembakar yang diperlukan untuk mendorong peluru-peluru. Jerman memonopoli ramuan aseton kunci, kalsium asetat. Tanpa kalsium asetat, Britan tidak ada keupayan mencipta aseton dan tanpa aseton takkan ada cordite. Jadi, tanpa cordite, Inggris pada ketika itu mungkin akan kalah dalam Perang Besar. Ketika ditanya bayaran apa yang diinginkan, Weizmann menjawab, "Hanya ada satu hal yang saya inginkan. Tanah air buat orang-orang saya." Ia menerima pembayaran untuk penemuan ini dan peran dalam sejarah awal Israel.
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