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On the 100th Anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, It's Time to Learn from our Mistakes
(Asharq Al-Awsat-UK-MEMRI) Othman Mirgani - Even if Britain deigned to publish an apology for the Balfour Declaration, it would not change any part of the bitter reality. There is a need to stop and take stock of ourselves, to examine the situation that we have arrived at over the hundred years since the Balfour Declaration and to seriously investigate the reasons for it. What has Israel achieved and where is it now and what have the Palestinians and the Arabs achieved with respect to the Palestinian issue? There are those who will say that Israel is supported by the superpowers. However, the Arabs have also been supported by strong allies over the course of their history and the Palestinians have received broad support in the international arena, more than Israel has enjoyed. The difference is that the Israelis remained focused on their goals and concentrated all their abilities on achieving them, while the Palestinians and the other Arabs were overwhelmed by internal disputes, which no one can say were caused by Israel. More than others, the Palestinians must do some soul searching in light of a long list of opportunities that they have missed, erroneous readings of reality, and internal divisions that reached the level of warfare, settling of scores, and assassinations.