Though the Balfour Declaration included the caveat that “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine”, the British mandate was set up in a way to equip Jews with the tools to establish self-rule, at the expense of the Palestinian Arabs.
It is regarded as one of the most controversial and contested documents in the modern history of the Arab world and has puzzled historians for decades.
Why was it controversial?
The document was controversial for several reasons.