KUALA LUMPUR: A 100 years of pain and suffering at the expense of others - more than 12 million displaced Palestinians to be exact - is not something to be celebrated.
Despite the criticism and calls for the British government to apologise for the Balfour declaration, they will instead be celebrating the "special" occasion with their Israeli counterparts.
British Prime Minister Theresa May was even quote in Parliament, stating how the Britain should be proud of the role they played in the creation of Israel and should certainly mark the centenary with pride.
"The British government is trying to provoke us by celebrating this declaration," Palestinian Ambassador to Malaysia Datuk Dr Anwar Al Agha told the New Straits Times yesterday.
The declaration is a letter, penned by then British foreign secretary at the time Arthur Balfour on Nov 2, 1917, to the Zionist Congress, pledging their support for the establishment of a "Jewish Homeland" in Palestine.
He said the British government had no right to make such promises as it was not theirs to give in the first place.
The declaration acts as an endorsement from the United Kingdom to Israel, he said, despite the fact that it was not based on any legal foundation.
Anwar said the Palestine government demands an apology from the British government as well as acknowledging its historic, legal and moral responsibility for the damages sustained as a result of the policies, following the declaration.
He said Britain was also urged to recognise the state of Palestine and pressure the United Nations (UN) to follow through with the two-state solution.
"The Palestinians are asking for the British government to accept its historical responsibility and take active steps towards righting the wrong and fulfilling the long overdue rights of the our people.
"If they truly believe in justice, apologise and make things right.
"We also want the UN to implement the 181 resolution and pressure the Israeli government to stop the occupation and atrocities against us," he said.
Anwar said the 181 resolution was adopted in 1947 by the UN but in 1948 only one part of the resolution was established, which was the implementation Israel as a state.
Unfortunately, he said, the second half of the resolution had yet to see daylight.
He said 70 years has passed and the superpowers are still experiencing problems in establishing Palestine as a state with Jerusalem as it's capital.
He said the super powers say they believe in justice but at the same time they are contradicting themselves by being one-sided and bias.
"It seems the British government is using this illegal declaration to continue their support to the state of Israel against the original owners of this land, the Palestinians," he said.
The Palestinians, Anwar said, has also recently launched the Make It Right campaign, aimed to educate the British public and international community as a whole about the consequences of this declaration and lobby them to create the necessary changes.
He said the have always been against the declaration and will continue to fight for a stop in celebrating it.
He added that Malaysia was one of the many countries that stands for the two-state solution, adding that they have always appreciated the continous support.