RAMALLAH, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday met with a British delegation who had carried out a 147-day protest walk across Europe to Palestine to mark the centennial of the Balfour Declaration.
During the meeting in the city of Ramallah, Abbas thanked the delegation for their representation of British people who do not accept the "historic injustice caused by the Balfour Declaration."
He also appreciated the "noble" position of British House of Commons who urged for the recognition of a Palestinian state.
The Balfour Declaration is a letter written in 1917 by British then Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Lord Lionel Walter Rothschild, leader of the British Jewish community.
The letter expressed Britain's support for Jewish people to establish a state in the Palestinian territories.
During his speech at the UN General Assembly last September, Abbas demanded Britain to apologize for the Declaration and compensate Palestinians for the occupation of their lands.
The president said the letter had paved the way for the establishment of the state of Israel and the uprooting of nearly 750,000 Palestinians from their homes.
He also demanded Britain to acknowledge the sufferings of the Palestinian people and the descendants of the refugees.
