Just Doing My Thing~

[ID: A Palestinian child holds picture of Arthar Balfour in a demonstration north of Gaza-Mohammed Salem/Al Jazeera./End ID]

Gaza City – Dozens of Palestinians have taken part in a protest at the Jablia refugee camp in the besieged Gaza Strip to demand the United Kingdom recognise an independent Palestinian state.

The protest came on the 104th anniversary of the the Balfour Declaration, a public pledge made by the UK, expressing its support for “a national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine. The statement came in the form of a letter from the UK’s then-foreign secretary, Arthur Balfour.

Palestinian factions organised Tuesday’s rally, where protesters held banners and chanted slogans urging the UK to stand by its responsibility and recognise an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and to acknowledge the suffering caused by the statement.

For his part, Aref Naim, a member of the Fida Party, said the “ominous pledge” caused mass displacement, killing and land confiscation and had not been forgotten by Palestinians.

“The international community is silent about the crime of stealing Palestinian land and displacing thousands of Palestinians until this day. The Palestinian people paid a heavy price and still do.”

Naim called on the international community to increase the pressure on Israel to end its decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories, and to implement all United Nations resolutions, including the right of return and the right to self-determination for Palestinians.