the balfort declaration, one of the most controversial and contested documents in the modern history, it was on this day in 1917 that the british government to announce its support for the establishment of a quote national home for the jewish people in palestine. this was one of the main catalyst of the nanak, the ethnic cleansing of palestine in 1948, and the conflict that ensued with the zinist regime. in this

edition of the spotlight we will look at how not dealing with the palestinian israel conflict has resulted in what we are witnessing today and other ethnic cleansing of the palestinians in the making with the help of the us. first let me introduce our guest. chris williamson hosts of press tv's palestine declassified joins us from derby in the uk. daniel author and churcher joins us from bayrootts. welcome to you both, chris williamson. i'll first start with you. when you take a look at this uh balford declaration, perhaps you can give us a brief uh, i guess uh historical perspective on that, but uh, what i'm looking at back then is the jews constituted less than 10% of the population at that time, uh, and then uh, what they wanted to do was they wanted to facilitate the immigration of these european jews between 1992 and 1935, uh, you then have the... population that rose from 9% to nearly

27% of the total population. um, of course, of what you think about the importance, as to the way that balfour declaration is really what's has said forward, what we're witnessing today, in terms of the uprooting of the palestinians from their land. hands are soaked in blood, and the decision that was taken or the announcement that was made in the balfore declaration. i mean they had morally no right to to make such declaration, i mean one people giving the land of another people to a third set of people, i mean completely unacceptable, and of course everything flows from that, interesting though, of course, one of the things that also was said in the bal declaration that nothing shall be done that may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-jewish communities in palestine, and that certainly hasn't been upheld - in the

intervening years, so yeah, i mean, i think britain is morally responsible for for what's happening uh, right now, and they're doubling down aren't they, we're seeing the government and the opposition parties throwing their full support behind the genocide of the palestinian people in gaza, it's a shocking state of affairs and you, i think many british people feel ashamed of our country right. now that's why increasing numbers of people are expressing their solidarity, unprecedented numbers indeed of people are showing their solidarity with the palestinian people on the streets of of london and and most towns of cities throughout the land. indeed. well, um, danielus, when you want to take a look at uh this uh balford declaration, what it did was displaced and forcibly uprooted palestinians, uh, the homes were destroyed and there's a lot of horrific stories that can be traced back to uh that time uh of what palestinians had to experience. and uh, is it fair to make a

comparison to what uh is happening today, especially with the news that israel and the us have planned a forceable displacement which is against international law of palestinians from the ghaza strip into again, this is a something that they haven't come out and acknowledge that they will do, but it's on the drawing board it appears, palestinians in the ghaza strip to go to egypt, the ones in alquite territories to go to jordan, which again is a forced displacement, is it fair to make a comparison in that way? yes, i do think it's fair and i also think we look at the ball declaration as one of the documents in a continuity of western of different forms of western in this case british violence against the indigenous palestinian people and the balcoration in particular didn't even mention palestinians, it referred to them as non- jewish people or population, so again here we can see how palestinians have been dehumanized early on, but it didn't even start with the ball.

people as people who should not who do not belong to this land, as people who are less than human or not even as people at all. so the dehumanization of palestinians and identifying the settlers as the owners of the land is obviously something that is consituative to zionism and stretches throughout its history, so the ongoing genocide of gaza that is taking place today, is a result of these of over a century of... colonial violence on the indigenous people with its goal being obviously for the settlers to take the land off the indigenous people and uh in all of which the what is now recognized by much of the world as the state of israel has constructed its entire identity

and narrative on the expulsion of the indigenous people so um the the genocide that is unfolding right now, in fact it not started on october 7. when this current escalation and the bombardments and massacres of thousands of palestinians are taking place, but it's actually inscribed into the ideology of zionism which requires the killing and the destruction of indigenous land and the indigenous people in order for zionism to unfold. the stats that has come out chris williamson about the instances uh that are occurring in the occupied territories in terms of the settlers. acting against the palestinians are very alarming because the rate has increased uh based on one particular um tally which uh the un agency ocha actually uh cited few days back you're looking at 15 communities palestinians uh that at least 98 households comprising of 828 palestinians including 313 children have

been displaced uh based on this set of violence settle violence is not anything new but it seems like obviously this is now what they are are. perceiving to be an opportune time for them to go after palestinians in the form and manner that they are. what are we looking at there? is that something that i'm guessing maybe uh perhaps is being done in conjunction with israeli officials, people like atmar bengavier? well, indeed it is, and we've often seen, haven't we, examples where the illegal settlers are being accompanied by israeli military personnel in their programs against the palestinian. people and the the level of intimidation and violence and murder is is is completely out of control, far worse than we've seen for very long time now, and you know the way in which the israeli settlers act they kind of act as if impunity

really, and aad in a better as i've said by the israeli security services, stepping up the number of. i think i saw some figures earlier today, i think there's around um 2,0 people now in administrative detention, these are people who were just round up basically taken hostage, no due process, no trial, no charges and people are just thrown in these israeli dungeons, it's it's a shocking state of affairs and the number of injuries is is is huge, well over 2,0 people have been injured, 132 people have been have been killed in the uh west bank, um and as you said you now, well over a thousand people displaced, um, this is going on in conjunction with the genocide that's taking place in in gaza right now, and what sickens me, i've got to say is the the compliance really, the the the conillance frankly of the um of the western powers and you, it seems to

me that you, maybe part of the agenda here is to gain access to the rich pickings, you know, in the uh in the sea of um, gaza coast, i understand that the zionist entity is has issued some gas exploration licenses to fossil fuel companies and you it seems that the is a um a desire to essentially evacuate the entire area of gaza and indeed there was a think tank linked to the likud party linked to benyaman netanyahu that that that actually. recently prepared a report you effectively talking about final solution for the palestinian question. in other words as i say to to basically kill and and expel the entire population of gaza, i believe that you

know the united states are complicit in this and talking about if the, the egyptian uh authorities were to accept people from from gaza, some talk about them, you know uh, well israel paying for the cost of that and the united states wiping out egypt's debt if they were to to do so. i think the the egyptian authorities will will will be rela um not withstanding the inducements because the support of people on the ground for the palestinian people in the region is well indeed around the world but particularly in the region and you'm not sure that if they went down that track they you know they would be able to hold that line suspect people even in the military who uh would not tolerate that but there are lots of messages apparently going out now from the egyptian authorities to to the military urging to you know be calm not get involved etc and so on, so yeah, it's it's it's it's uh, it's it's a

real terrible state of affairs and you know the western powers have lot to answer for in their in their complicity with what's going on right now, indeed um and those are interesting points that you make there uh which i've heard on more than one occasion now uh but let's uh focus uh on where you're at daniel ye just bayroots where i'm sure people are uh very very very anxious uh to uh hear what the hezbollah secretary general has to say tomorrow uh i'm sure uh that they are either going to attend or watch and to see what is going to be said i mean i've seen a couple of the teasers and i'm sure they have meanings in it uh maybe you can tell us but uh today for the first time two drones were used these attack drones by hisbollah which targeted israeli positions on the border we also know that uh for the first time uh all israeli sights on the southern border. were targeted by the resistance fighters, uh, tell us what you think may happen, i know it's

speculation, but since you're there, perhaps you can give us better idea of this, yeah, it's difficult to speculate, um, difficult to predict, what is going to happen, but obviously there is anticipation for the speech that is scheduled for tomorrow, because it can have lot of implications on how the situation is going to f and fold uh, but of course we're currently. um almost four weeks into um this war and it's interesting to see how the from the military side it is it is different in many ways of the previous uh confrontations and hizbollah obviously continues to play a major role in the deterrence against the uh zionist regime um which um is um one could argue also weakened internally to an extent where it isn't able to fight a war on two fronts uh if we look at the current situation however of course it it is very difficult to speculate what the outcome uh of of the speech will be because

it is an unprecedented situation for many people here and in the region and very um um uncertain situation as well. taking a look at the particular statement of genocide uh there and i'm bringing this up because it needs to be discussed chris williamson has come out on saying that palestinians face risk of genocide you know this word has been uh echo by uh several um either leaders or politicians, even the iranian uh foreign minister has uh said that on more than one occasion and i'm going to put that next to the fact that you have over the course of this uh october 7th till now uh 25,00 tons worth of explosives have been dropped on the territory and the comparison has been made to uh the atomic bomb uh guess that was dropped by the us uh of course these bombs are made in the usa and therefore this whole comp which by the way, i'm sure you're well aware, us itself has a law by the name of the lee

act, which doesn't allow uh the sale or assistance militarily to uh regimes that drop bombs a civilian population just like the way that israel is doing, doesn't that really put into perspective or should i say shows how the us is complicit uh really in a large degree when it comes to this war? well, the us just turns a blind eye when it when it's it to do so uh quite clearly the zionist entity is in breach of of that directive that you mentioned there as we know it's it's in breach of of international law, but they they just seem to have caught blanch to to do as they wish, mean if, if if the uh international law meant anything to these western powers, then they would be bringing pressure to bear on israel. look and you know israel couldn't survive were it not for the support of the united states with its huge

subsidy that it provides to uh israel a a annual basis and you talk of even increasing that and you know the sport that they are providing in terms of the the military hardware that you mention the fact that they've actually floated two aircraft carriers into the mediterranean also tells you story doesn't it? but you know it seems to me that the whole... the question really is is uh about the as it was strategic interests of the united states and and clearly they you use israel um to further united. states interests and i've already mentioned the licenses to explore uh for uh gas reserves in the mediterranean off the gaza coast and a bit like the nato proxy war in ukraine you know in the end lot of this often comes down to the whole question of of fossil fuels and the fossil fuel industry um

and i think though that the public opinion in the united states is certainly turning. increasingly in support of the palestinian people and against the israeli regime, you've even got um senators now and members of the houses houses of representatives um actually openly criticizing apac, you know the israeli lobby which is incredibly powerful in the us and politicians have always been fearful of of speaking out and criticizing israel and certainly not criticizing because of the potential repercussions, but people are now, some of these politicians who've been lived in the past, are now speaking out, so you know opinion is changing, whilst it's true that the the leaders who hold the leave us to power at the moment are very much still in the pocket of the zionist entity, um, you know, public opinion around the western world

is is changing, and even some of the the politicians lower down the food chain as it were, are um... their muscles to some extent and you know things i think will you are changing um in terms of where politics is is heading in terms of this question in in the west, but of course you on the ground the the resistance is is very very well prepared and i think uh you know will will take its destiny into its own hands in the in the coming weeks, well we i'd like to find out how much they are changing uh daniel yes, we're um look. looking at some of the political costs that are showing itself, one the ones that are bahrain announcing the israeli ambassador to have left the country and that uh there has been a halt now economic relations between bahrain and israel, we're also looking at how bolivia has caught of diplomatic relations, but in the bigger picture we're looking at how this whole uh image of israel as controversial may

be to like of better word that it was, it's uh really lost uh somewhat legitimacy on the world stage, the protest obviously show that, our guess there just talked about how politicians are more sympathetic towards now the palestinian cause, but how much of an impact and damage uh has israel suffered and how much more is israel risking to damage is uh whatever is left of his reputation or image by continuing this war? so question here also is uh who israel's audience is, and it's very good observation of course that israel's public image has suffered to some extent, but of course if we look at the support that israel gets and we look at where it gets the support from, that's not necessarily based any rational ethical or moral implications, the israeli regime is supported by the governments of the european

union of the united states and other um governments are emerged as setler colonies including australia, new zealand. uh canada and their close allies which represent basically not the majority of the world, but which have obviously a overproportional power on the international stage in the so-called international community, and obviously given that the united states is in the un security council, the israeli regime to some extent um has sort of uh ved to power, so even before this current escalation and the genocide that we're seeing. uh happening now, the uh the israeli regime was upheld by uh political elites, not necessarily by people uh around the world, so it is of course a um a shift to some extent to see that even though the israeli regime has been investing um so much money and efforts into its public diplomacy and different forms of propaganda, to target

in particular western audiences to identify itself as victor to identify itself as so-called democracy, the only democracy in the middle east and to um keep recycling those orientalist and very racist, anti-palestinian and anti-indigenous language and basically fantasies and myths, at the same time um those who support the israeli regime at this point uh do so for for various reasons that might be anti-indigenous and and racist and we see that obviously in the discourse that is padled by the uh political elites in the european union that keep on euphamizing genocide into what they refer to as self-defense that keep on using the same discourse about terrorism that has been copy pasted now for years if not uh decades, but the question really is about about the power relations, and even if we see hundreds of

thousands of people in the streets, it is a structural problem in the end, because even at this point, it is the united states, it is washington that could put an end to uh these uh israeli crimes if it withdrew its support, so what i want to say is that there there are imbalances in power that... keep the israeli regime alive and also of course with it being a proxy and a colonial outpost of the euro uh american sphere sure you know uh while while i guess i was speaking there chris williamson i couldn't help but think uh how is israel going to recoup when uh this thing whenever it's going to end economically i mean uh at this point the conservative figure is about 11% to 12% gdp drop uh their businesses that they can't even open. uh, they open for few hours, no customers, they close the doors in the occupied west bank uh, the the transportation, which lot of palestinians, for example, bus drivers uh, are sited to

just sit around, whereas to before, obviously, you know, there was work, there was transportation, uh, people going back and forth, uh, that is something that is not going to fall in back into its original place, in a quick fashion, and uh, how is israel going to be able to come out? that top of that how there's such a strong call coming to boycott israel has actually just come out uh with leader saying that you know israel should be boycotted in terms of its oil that it shouldn't be exported to to israel of course regional countries contribute to that if there's a will to do that so what do you think can can israel actually come out of the economic doldrums going to be facing well it's always it's always recovered in in the past from these military excursion. that it's been engaged in, but i think this is different, and i think it'l be much more problematical for them to recover, because people have seen the horror, not so much on

the corporate media, but certainly on this channel and on channels like al-jazer etc. but also on social media, and so the propaganda that has been you know put out there by israel and by its by its willing sort of collaborators in the western media and political class, isn't actually cutting through to... so i think the you know the uh the desire, the willingness, the commitment to engage in in boycots um will certainly increase, we've seen and you mentioned bolivia, i think that is likely to increase as well, this this kind of breaking off of any kind of diplomatic ties with the zionist entity, so that will also have an effect, but of course you know israel is imploding anyway, i mean there's a lot of discontent uh with the uh netanyahu regime. and there was a poll conducted for the israeli tv channel before the latest palestinian uprising in in gaza suggesting that 28% of the israeli

population were considering leaving now that will have only increased substantially i think as a result of the um uh you know the the the incursion the alexa flood incursion and and what's what's happening now the iron dome is is is not as uh as impervious as as it previously was so i think you know... will it will potentially collapse with the weight of discontent internally and and the strength of of opposition, which is worldwide now. all right, thank you so much. uh, we're fortunately out of time. chris williamson, host of press tv's palestine declassified, daniel, author and researcher from bay. thank you to you both. with that we come to an end for this edition of the spotlight. thanks for being with us uh, and i thank the team also. for now, it's goodbye.

the hamas israel conflict has raised the specter of major escalation, some believe that iran would enter the war sooner or later, but should the region brace itself for doomsday scenario, will israel attack iran after years of warnings and what's iran's? position, these and more on this episode of iran today.

your headlines on press tv, israel continues with this indiscriminast strikes on the besege gaza strip for the 28th day, targeting more civilian infrastructure, including four school shelters. hamas says israel is committing the quote, massacre of the century against palestinian. while dropping internationally banned bombs on the besieged ghaza strip and israeli settlers have attacked palestinians in the northern part of the occupied west bank setting fire to their vehicles and stores.