Palestinians Thank UK for Half a Billion in Aid with Nasty Lawsuit

Despite $632,443,199 in donations to Palestinian causes in the past five years alone, a group of Palestinians is suing the UK based on ‘crimes’ by British soldiers a century ago.

By Yakir Benzion, United With Israel

A group of Palestinians is trying to rewrite history, suing Great Britain and demanding it confess that the Balfour Declaration “destroyed the life of an entire Palestinian people.”

The lawsuit is being tracked by the Israeli watchdog Palestinian Media Watch, which monitors and translates from Arabic into English Palestinian discourse. PMW’s Director of Legal Strategies, Maurice Hirsch, says it’s an astounding case of biting-the-hand-that-feeds.

“Britain has donated no less than £473,038,638 ($632,443,199) to various Palestinian causes in the last five years alone, and will continue in 2021,” Hirsch said, calling the lawsuit “an ironic expression of gratitude.”

According to reports in the Palestinian press, the lawsuit was filed in the Palestinian Authority court system against Britain for issuing the Balfour Declaration and for alleged “crimes” committed by British soldiers against the Palestinian people during the Mandate period that ended in 1948.

Hirsch notes that while the lawsuit was initiated by private individuals, its so-called facts entirely refelct the narrative of the Palestinian Authority that the British and the Balfour Declaration are the cause of Palestinian suffering, rather than Arab refusal in 1948 to accept a two-state solution and their failed attempt to wipe out the fledgling state of Israel.

Palestinian attorney Luay Abdo said the goal of the suit is to persuade Britain to confess that the Balfour Declaration “destroyed the life of an entire Palestinian people and entity, whose place was taken by a racist colonialist entity.”

Abdo said he seeks “a Palestinian legal ruling, after which the matter will be brought before the international courts, and specifically in the British arena.”

“A more comprehensive presentation of historical facts clearly shows that it was the international community that created modern-day Israel, and not the Balfour Declaration or Great Britain,” Hirsch noted.

And if the Palestinians are hoping for a friendly ear in Britain, Hirsch reminds us that on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, then British Prime Minister Theresa May totally rejected the PA demonization of Britain, saying: “We are proud of the role that we played in the creation of the State of Israel, and we will certainly mark the centenary with pride.”