NO issue unites the Muslim ummah as the continuing Israeli occupation of Palestine.

Even before the 1967 war that saw Israel grab Gaza and the West Bank, its very creation had been viewed as a grave injustice.

Now, on the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, a 67-word document containing the British commitment to the creation of `a national home for Jews`, Jews across the world celebrate while Palestinians mourn.

And they have much to mourn: hundreds of thousands were ejected from their homes, and the people of Gaza have suffered years of siege; people living on the West Bank are subjected to daily humiliations as they cross the many roadblocks Israel has created.

In a recent article in the Guardian, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, demanded an apology from the British government. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on the other hand, had dinner with his British counterpart, Theresa May, when he came to London to celebrate.

But as we in the Muslim world condemn the creation and expansion of Israel as a direct result of the Balfour Declaration, we seldom try to examine the context in which it was issued. In 1917, Britain was involved in a titanic struggle with Germany, and had lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers in murderous land battles.

Fighting alongside the British army was a company of Jewish soldiers. Although numerically insignificant, their very presence convinced the of ficer corps of their loyalty to the British Empire. Many Arabs fought the British under the Ottoman banner.

Another factor that had generated support for a Zionist state was the close integration of British Jews into British cultural and social life. Despite rampant anti-Semitism, people like Baron Rothschild, a banker and ardent Zionist, were welcomed into aristocratic circles. The lobbying of highly placed Jews was extremely effective.

The Balfour Declaration was more of a letter of intent than a binding contract as it contained neither a date, nor a shape of the Jewish homeland. And it promised the existing Arab population of Palestine that they would continue to enjoy the right to their property.

In the event, it took over 30 years and the Second World War for the state of Israel to come into being in 1948. In 1939, the British rulers of Palestine declared a cap on the further immigration of Jews into the territory.

As a result, terrorist groups like the Stern gang fought a vicious guerrilla war against the Brits.

But as the war ended in 1945, hauntingimages of the Jewish survivors of Nazi concentration camps flashed across the world, making it politically impossible for a weakened Britain to hold the line. A vote in the UN gave Israel statehood, and a clearly defined international boundary.

When supporters complained to David Ben-Gurion, Israel`s first prime minister, that the new state`s borders were indefensible, and he should not accept them, he is reported to have replied: `If they give us a handkerchief, we will accept it and expand later.` He is also quoted as saying: `What matters is not what the goyim [non-Jews] do.

What matters is what the Jews do.

This clear vision remains at the heart of Israel`s ruthless self-confidence. Time and again, its leaders have invoked the battle cry `never again!`, a reference to the Holocaust that saw millions of European Jews being herded to concentration camps and gassed.

Palestinians and their supporters blame the US for Israel`s aggressive policies that have led to Palestinian suffering and regional wars. And it`s true that the open cheque Tel Aviv has from the US has contrib-uted greatly to the lack of progress on peace talks. In fact, if the US has special ties with any nation, it is Israel.

But it was not always thus: after the 1956 war in which the UK,France and Israel attacked and occupied the Suez Canal af ter it had been nationalised by Nasser, president Eisenhower issued a near ultimatum to the three nations to pull out.

But increasing acts of PLO militancy that killed several Americans changed the equation as Israel gained support.

Now, of course, AIPAC, the pro-Israeli lobby, has become a powerful player in US politics. Few politicians dare oppose the legislation it backs in fact, it is widely believed that US foreign policy towards the Middle East is made in Tel Aviv.

But the worst enemies the Palestinians have are the Arab states. Instead of forging a common front to demand an equitable solution, they have constantly betrayed the Palestinian cause. Egypt and Jordan signed separate peace deals long ago, and Saudi Arabia and the UAE are reportedly in a secret alliance with Israel.

Worse, corrupt Palestinian factions have been at war with each, giving Israel an easy excuse not to hold peace talks. Until this changes, expect another century of occupation and humiliation. • irfan.husain@gmail.com