THE BALFOUR DECLARATION

Year 2018, Volume: 7 Issue: 13, 134 - 143, 28.01.2018

Müzehher Yamaç , Hazel Cartmıll

Abstract

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.

Keywords

Arthur Balfour, Zionizm, Middle East, Palestine

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