Thursday (November 2) marks 100 years since the Balfour Declaration, a letter written by the then UK foreign secretary Arthur James Balfour to prominent British Jew, Lord Walter Rothschild, which led to the birth of the State of Israel.

The 1917 letter stated the UK government’s desire to establish in Palestine a national home for the Jewish people.

Palestinians want Britain to apologise for what it says is an injustice done to the Palestinian Arabs, however the British government is commemorating the anniversary “with pride.”

British Prime Minister Theresa May has described the Balfour Declaration as “one of the most important letters in history.”

“It demonstrates Britain’s vital role in creating a homeland for the Jewish people,” May said in December 2016 at a business lunch for the Conservative Friends of Israel (CSI).

May described Israel as a thriving democracy, a beacon of tolerance, an engine of enterprise.

“For it is only when you walk through Jerusalem or Tel Aviv that you see a country where people of all religions and sexualities are free and equal in the eyes of the law,” May said.

Palestinians, who have spent recent years seeking recognition for their state at international institutions, are demanding British accountability. They have threatened to sue Britain over the declaration.