An early pilot · A community project
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وعد بلفور
Exact day2 November 1917
Palestine
On 2 November 1917 the British Foreign Secretary, Arthur James Balfour, wrote that his government viewed with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. Written into Britain’s Mandate, it was the guiding principle of British rule in Palestine for thirty years.
Linked context in the legacy record
The declaration took the form of a short letter, dated 2 November 1917, from Lord Arthur James Balfour, the British Foreign Secretary, to Lord Lionel Walter de Rothschild, approved by the British cabinet. It stated that His Majesty’s Government viewed with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people and would use their best endeavours to facilitate it, it being clearly understood that nothing would be done to prejudice the civil and religious rights of the existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine. Incorporated into Britain’s Mandate by the League of Nations, it was the guiding principle of British rule for thirty years.
Link to this chapterPalQuest · Institute for Palestine Studies · section: Highlight text (Alex Winder)
Editorial paraphrase · enA short letter dated 2 November 1917 from Balfour to Rothschild, approved by the cabinet, quoted in full; incorporated into the Mandate, the guiding principle of British rule for thirty years.
Link to this citationThe declaration was drafted during the First World War. The encyclopedia reads the British aims as winning Jewish support in the United States, Germany and Russia for the war effort, and securing British claims to Palestine after the war to shore up control over Egypt and the Suez Canal. It directly contradicted an earlier secret promise by Sir Henry McMahon, Britain’s High Commissioner in Egypt, to Sharif Hussein of Mecca that Britain would support Arab independence after the war. British troops took Jerusalem in December 1917, and the occupation of the whole country was complete by October 1918.
Link to this chapterPalQuest · Institute for Palestine Studies · section: Highlight text (Alex Winder)
Editorial paraphrase · enBritish officials hoped for Jewish support in the United States, Germany and Russia, and to secure postwar claims to Palestine; McMahon’s promise to Sharif Hussein was directly contradicted; Jerusalem taken in December 1917, the country by October 1918.
Link to this citationPalestine’s Arab population opposed the Balfour policy from the start: in demonstrations and clashes in April 1920 and May 1921, at the Palestine Arab Congresses, and in delegations to London. From 1918 to 1936 Palestinians marked 2 November, Balfour Day, as a day of mourning, with demonstrations and one-day general strikes.
Link to this chapterPalQuest · Institute for Palestine Studies · section: Highlight text (Alex Winder)
Editorial paraphrase · enDemonstrations and clashes in April 1920 and May 1921, congresses and delegations; from 1918 to 1936, 2 November marked as a day of mourning with demonstrations and one-day general strikes.
Link to this citationSources & evidence
Contextual sources are further reading. Precise supporting passages appear alongside the chapters.
article · PalQuest · Institute for Palestine Studies
Overview by Alex Winder, Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question (Institute for Palestine Studies).
Reference metadata and an original summary only. No permission to copy or host the source’s text, photographs, audio or video is asserted.
photograph · Wikimedia Commons
The photograph shown with this event: The Balfour Declaration, 2 November 1917.
Public domain: a letter of the British government of 1917, whose Crown copyright has expired; Wikimedia Commons marks it public domain in the United Kingdom and the United States (PD-UKGov, PD-US-expired).
photograph · Wikimedia Commons
The photograph shown with this event: Falastin on Balfour Day, 2 November 1932.
Public domain: a 1932 newspaper page whose term of copyright has expired; Wikimedia Commons marks it public domain in Israel and the United States (PD-Israel, PD-US-no notice).
document · United Nations
Supports the event summary and historical context. Consult the original record for detail and attribution.
Reference and original summary only. Original material remains with its publisher; no full-text reproduction permission is implied.
2 November 1917 · day
11-02 · occurrence
Anniversary of the documented date.
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