THE BALFOUR DECLARATION

Abstract As the Balfour Declaration approaches its centennial, it remains one of the most significant and controversial documents in recent British foreign policy, for its lasting impact on the Middle East and British diplomatic relations. The decision to officially declare sympathy for the Zionist aspiration to establish a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine was as divisive at the time as it is today; with detractors arguing against it as idealistic, anti-Semitic and strategically unwise. Yet, in the opposition’s preoccupation with arguing against the publically espoused moral reasons for supporting Zionism, they invariably failed to comprehend the underlying pragmatic machinations behind Lloyd George’s collaboration with the Zionists in the midst of the stalling war effort. This miscalculation rendered the opposition voices powerless, and British support of the Jewish settlement of Palestine quickly became a reality. Whilst the British Empire gradually declined in global influence in the years following the First World War, its influence lived on in the legacy of the war-time contingency policy for Palestine, which led the groundwork for the establishment of a Zionist state in 1947. This article discusses some of the competing claims made about Arthur Balfour’s ‘interesting experiment’ in order to better understand the motivations of the British government at the time, why opposition to the plan failed, as well as understand the legacy of the Balfour Declaration for British foreign policy in the region today. Özet İngiltere’nin diplomatik ilişkileri ve Ortadoğu üzerindeki uzun süreli ilişkileri söz konusu olduğunda, Balfor Deklarasyonu aradan geçen 100 yıla rağmen hala önemini korumaktadır. Yahudi halkı için Filistin’de bir devlet kurulmasını resmen destekleyen bu deklarason, bugün olduğu gibi zamanında da bir dizi tartışma yaratmıştı. Muhalifler, bu deklarasyonun idealist, anti-Semitik ve stratejik olarak hatalı olduğunu ileri sürmüştü. Muhalefet Siyonizm'i desteklemenin ahlaki gerekçelerine karşı çıkmakla uğraşmaktan, Lloyd George'un savaş öncesi ortamda Siyonistlerle işbirliği yapmasının ardındaki pragmatik amaçları anlamakta aciz kalmıştı. Bu hatalı hesaplama muhalefetin sesini kıstı ve Britanya'nın Filistin'deki Yahudi yerleşimine verdiği destek hızlı bir şekilde hayata geçti. Savaş zamanında Filistin için yapılan çalışmalar, 1947'de Siyonist bir devletin kurulmasının zeminini hazırladı ve Birinci Dünya Savaşı'ndan sonrasındaki yıllarda İngiliz İmparatorluğu’nun dünyadaki öneminin azalmaya başlamakla birlikte devam etmesini sağladı. Bu makale, zamanında İngiliz hükümetinin emellerini anlamak üzere Arthur Balfour'un 'ilginç deneyi' hakkında yapılan çeşitli iddialardan bazılarını ele almakta, muhalefetin neden başarısız olduğunu ve İngilizler için Balfour Beyannamesinin dış politikada devam eden önemini irdelemektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler:

Arthur Balfour, Zionizm, Middle East, Palestine

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