Outrage over Balfour ‘celebration’ on UK campus
Manchester University is facing protests next month from students and academics after it was revealed that a pro-Israeli group is set to host a celebration of the Balfour Declaration on its premises.
The celebration is part of a series of events across the UK marking the 100-year anniversary of a statement written by Britain’s foreign secretary, Arthur Balfour, in which the British government announced its support for the establishment of a national home for Jewish people in Palestine in 1917.
The declaration had farreaching consequences for supporters of the Zionist cause and those living in Palestine. It is widely seen as the starting point in a chain of events that led to today’s bitter conflict.
News that the event – involving the Israeli embassy and the Zionist Federation of Britainwas being held at the university was discovered by the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions campaign at the institution. BDS is a global movement dedicated to ending Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.
BDS campaigner Huda Ammori, 23, said that the university’s decision to allow the event on its premises had upset many Palestinian students.
“The Balfour Declaration is seen by many Palestinian students as the invitation of the ethnic cleansing, which took place in 1948,” she said.
Ms Ammori, a third-year student at Manchester, described how some students on campus felt when they discovered the celebration was taking place.
“It was quite an emotional step back for some of the Palestinian students because it’s a mockery, especially when they are painting it as a celebration. Not an educational talk – a celebration,” she said.
“They (the university) are making a clear statement by holding it on the campus. They are completely disregarding Palestinian students.”
BDS has joined other student societies in writing a letter to Manchester University president and vice-chancellor Nancy Rothwell demanding the event be cancelled. If it is not, Ms Ammori said a protest will take place outside the location where the celebration is held. When contacted by The National about the Balfour 100 event, Manchester University said it allowed is premises to be hired by third parties and that it had no connection with the event.
A university spokesman said the event was a “commercial booking” with “no connection to, nor is it endorsed by, the university”.
Some academics at the institution have also expressed similar dismay at the Balfour event being held on the premises.
This is not the first time the university has caused controversy over its dealings with pro-Palestine groups.
Last month, it was accused of censoring a talk by a Holocaust survivor, the title of which openly criticised Israel, resulting in senior academics sending administrators an open letter expressing deep concern.