Articles

The Balfour Declaration in contemporary political discourse

Vostok/Oriens '2018, №6

DOI: 10.31857/S086919080002870-4

 
The paper studies the contemporary political discourse on the Balfour Declaration of 1917. The author argues that renewed interest in the declaration has appeared since 2008, when a media campaign began to accuse the UK of issuing the document. The campaigners claim that the British promise of support for the creation of a "Jewish national home" in 1917 was the beginning of the tragedy of the Palestinian people, and demanded that London pay compensation to the Palestinians. The author of the article confirms the hypothesis proposed by some publicists that such statements are part of a broader information strategy seeking to contest Israel’s legitimacy and to garner international recognition for the Palestinian state. The article also examines the current historical narrative on the Balfour Declaration, and explores three lines: a "postcolonial" narrative, a neo-Zionist line, and a Christian-Zionist direction. The article attempts to formulate the main theses of each narrative.

Keywords: Balfour Declaration, Great Britain, Post‑colonialism, Neo-Zionism, Christian Zionism

Pages: С. 91–104