In Palestine we do not propose even to go through the form of consulting the wishes of the present inhabitants of the country... The Four Great Powers are committed to Zionism. And Zionism, be it right or wrong, good or bad, is rooted in age-long traditions, in present needs, in future hopes, of far profounder import than the desires and prejudices of the 700,000 Arabs who now inhabit that ancient land.

Arthur James Balfour

Memorandum to Lord Curzon, August 11, 1919

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Balfour, Arthur James. Memorandum to Lord Curzon. 11 Aug. 1919.

Current Citation

Balfour, Arthur James. Quoted in Dangerous Liaisons: Gender, Nation, and Postcolonial Perspectives, edited by Anne McClintock and Aamir Mufti and Ella Shohat. University of Minnesota Press, 1997.