Tuesday 7 November 2017 22 Today's Business Future Business Motions & Questions Legislation Other Gnothaichean an-diugh Gnothaichean ri teachd Gluasadan agus Ceistean Reachdas Eile Motions | Gluasadan Supported by: Claudia Beamish, John Finnie, Ivan McKee, Neil Findlay, Pauline McNeill, Ross Greer, Clare Haughey *S5M-08599.1 Jackson Carlaw: Legacy of the Balfour Declaration 100 Years On As an — amendment to motion S5M-08599 in the name of Sandra White (Legacy of the Balfour Declaration 100 Years On), leave out from ""; notes the reported" to end and insert "or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country'; believes that the highest aims of the Balfour Declaration have been achieved on this its 100th anniversary; pays tribute to the memory of Arthur James Balfour and believes that his declaration is symbolic of Scotland and Israel's historic ties, which it considers should be built upon in this centenary year; highlights what it sees as the importance given to minority rights in democratic Israel, with the country's declaration of independence granting 'all Israel s inhabitants equality of social and political rights irrespective of ’ religion, race or gender'; considers that this is symbolised by the growth of the Arab-Israeli population, which saw 200,000 Arabs who did not flee during the 1948 War of Independence being absorbed into Israeli society as equal citizens and whose descendants make up Israel s 1.7 ’ million-strong Arab minority today; contrasts this to what it understands was the expulsion of over 800,000 Jews from countries in the Middle East and North Africa following the UN decision to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab states in 1947; further contrasts this to the treatment of minorities, especially Christians, in neighbouring Middle Eastern countries, which have been reported as having seen their populations fall since 1948; believes that, thanks to protection for minorities guaranteed under the Israeli declaration of independence, Israel's Christian population has grown significantly; challenges the proposition that Gaza is under so-called military occupation, given that the then Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon...