(Arthur James) Balfour and Zionism‪.‬

A. P. THORNTON is an historian of the British Empire, European imperialism, and international affairs. Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Toronto, he has contributed to the new five-volume Oxford History of the British Empire (forthcoming). This year, Israeli citizens celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their state, but of course their nationhood is a considerably longer story. As was pointed out to Arthur James Balfour, the Jews had raised the walls of Jerusalem "when London was a marsh." And it was with an appreciation of such history that Balfour would set out in 1917 what has been called the Magna Carta of the state of Israel, the declaration that bears his name. To some, the Balfour Declaration remains one of the great mistakes of British imperialism; to others it represents what is possible when political leaders set aside expediency and act to set right a long story of wrongs.