Edinburgh University apologises for Balfour...
Edinburgh University apologises for Balfour...
... or does it?
Summary
Edinburgh University issues an unreserved public apology for it’s longest serving Chancellor Arthur James Balfour - architect of The Balfour Declaration that paved the way for creation of the State of Israel.
Or did they?
Read on…
Contents
Who was Balfour?
Arthur James Balfour was a member of the Scottish Aristocracy born in 1848 in East Lothian near Edinburgh.
He had a long career in Conservative politics - becoming Prime Minister 1902-1905.
He leaves a long shadow - a few wee gems below:
as Irish Secretary - ruthless repression of Irish Nationalists, dubbed “Bloody Balfour”
as Foreign Secretary - issued The Balfour Declaration of 1917 supporting the “establishment of a national home for Jewish people in Palestine” written to Lord Rothschild, leader of the British Jewish Community
Main text;
His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.
And that got the ball rolling in Palestine …
A Deeply Unpleasant Man
Described by a journalist:
“This Balfourian manner...an attitude of mind—an attitude of convinced superiority which insists in the first place on complete detachment from the enthusiasms of the human race, and in the second place on keeping the vulgar world at arm's length...”
On Black people: In 1906 in the House of Commons on the disenfranchisement of Blacks in South Africa:
“We have to face the facts. Men are not born equal, the white and black races are not born with equal capacities: they are born with different capacities which education cannot and will not change.”
On Jews: In 1919 in his introduction to a book he noted that the Zionist movement would:
“mitigate the age-long miseries created for Western civilization by the presence in its midst of a Body [the Jews] which it too long regarded as alien and even hostile, but which it was equally unable to expel or to absorb”
Edinburgh University “Apology”
Balfour took honorary Chancellorship of Edinburgh University between 1891-1930 - the longest serving Chancellor in its history.
Recognising Balfour’s contribution towards the Palestinian situation, Edinburgh University have issued a public apology covering:
Colonial Legacy Impact & Education: with a compulsory course for all students to learn the impact of Balfour’s actions
Suspend the IHRA definition of antisemitism - which was falsely equating criticism of Israel with antisemitism and restricting free speech on the Palestine / Israel situation
Divest in any companies involved in the occupation of Palestine
Palestinian Scholarships: allocate funds for students from Palestine and go on exchange projects with Palestinian Universities
Endorse One-State Solution
…… except it’s not! - it’s essentially a prop accompanying PERFORMANCE ART of an academic seminar. A ‘prop’ fictional letter from the University in the year 20431…
This is from the University of Edinburgh Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) from Dr. Farah Saleh - who felt bound to issue a clarification after the social media storm the last few days!2
The Institute is very conscious of Balfour’s legacy and in 2022 on the Centenary of the British Mandate in Palestine, invited historian Dr. Salman Abu Sitta to address Lord Balfour3.
Timing
It will be interesting to see how this goes down with the timing with the current conflict - the lecture is on 17 December, but to be fair the 106th Anniversary of the Balfour Declaration did fall on 2nd November the previous month.
It will also be interesting to see how it goes with Edinburgh University - the point on IHRA smothering free speech is valid, with multiple examples of this in a Sep 2023 report by the European Legal Support Centre4.
I personally find myself smiling at the cleverness of the approach here - but sad at the base truth of the satire.
I’m also sad because you’re almost guaranteed Dr. Saleh is going to be censured for this from multiple quarters - primarily driven by the UK pro-Israeli lobby. Watch this space.
The Next Apology for Balfour?
I note Balfour actually took multiple honorary roles at various Universities in his career.
I don’t think we’ll be getting an apology from Cambridge where he was Chancellor 1919-1930- but how about a Glasgow Kiss from Glasgow University where he was Rector 1890-1893?
A Glasgow Kiss right on the Rector.
Related Articles
Substack:
Discussion of impacts of calling false antisemitism on Free Speech; particular reference to IHRA:
University of Edinburgh Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) - https://www.iash.ed.ac.uk/event/dr-farah-saleh-balfour-reparations-2023-2043
Dr. Farah Selah Twitter - 18 Dec 2023 - https://twitter.com/FarahSalehDance/status/1736381587799912634
University of Edinburgh Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) website - Dec 6 2022 “Addressing Balfour's Legacy“ - https://www.iash.ed.ac.uk/news/addressing-balfours-legacy
European Legal Support Centre Website - Report Sep 2023 - Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom in UK Higher Education: The Adverse Impact of the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism: https://res.cloudinary.com/elsc/images/v1694507437/Freedom-of-Speech-and-Academic-Freedom-in-UK-Higher-Education-BRISMES-ELSC/Freedom-of-Speech-and-Academic-Freedom-in-UK-Higher-Education-BRISMES-ELSC.pdf?_i=AA