Vice Chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Agency (BKSAP) of the House of Representatives (DPR RI) Rofi Munawar deplored the attitude of the British Government planning to hold the 100th anniversary of the Balfour declaration. In addition, he also criticized the statement of British Foreign Secretary Borish Johnson who feel proud because Britain has participated to form the state of Zionist Israel.
"The Balfour Declaration is in fact the greatest gate of disaster in human history because it has opened prolonged suffering to the Palestinians for a century, they are oppressed, killed and driven from their own homeland," Rofi said in a written statement Thursday (2 / 11).
The East Java Legislator asked the Indonesian government to file a memorandum of appeal against the celebration plan to the British Government. If it is done, then it has violated the principle of humanity and the loss of empathy for the suffering of Palestine during this time.
"Instead of apologizing for the bad policies that have been made in the past, ironically, the British Government celebrates the century with leader Benjamin Netanyahu in a festive party.It is so out of the ordinary, sensible, and far from up to the values humanity, "he said.
Rofi reminds the international community in general and Muslim countries in particular, that the occupation of Israel since the Balfour declaration has claimed millions of Palestinian casualties. In fact, according to him, countless material losses suffered.
The Palestinians were deprived of their freedom because they were still confined within the separation wall. On that basis, he insisted that the struggle for independence and sovereignty over Palestine must immediately be realized.
"We should be ashamed that Palestine is still unable to breathe freely in its own country, and this century is proof that most of the Islamic countries are still powerless to release Palestine from Israeli clutches," he said.
Rofi, who is also a member of the Executive of the Istanbul-based Parliamentarians for Al-Quds, called on the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to be more serious about fighting for Palestinian independence. In particular, in various international forums both diplomatically and by other mechanisms.
The House of Representatives through BKSAP has always consistently voiced the issue of Palestine in various international parliamentary forums such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Parliamentary Union of OIC Member States (PUIC) or parliaments of OIC countries, as well as regional such as Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA), Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), and the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF). A number of controversial measures continue to be carried out by Israel ahead of a century of Balfour declaration, including recently the Israeli government plans to launch a draft law (Bill) of Greater Jerusalem.
Following that, Israel attacked a tunnel south of Gaza City on Monday, October 30, 2017 which has left at least seven people dead and nine injured. The Balfour Declaration itself was a letter published in 1917 by British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour who was also the leader of the British Jewish community back then.
On November 2, 1917, Balfour sent a letter to Walter Rothschild, the second son of Baron Rothschild. In the letter, Balfour says the British government officially supports the idea of creating a Jewish state in the Palestinian territories.