The Chilean parliament hosted on Tuesday a special session on Palestine to discuss the centennial anniversary of the Balfour Declaration Britain’s responsibility for the Palestinians’ suffering and the Gaza blockade. The session also considered the idea of founding a parliamentary grouping for Palestine in South America.

Friends of Palestine group which represents more than 50% of the Chilean MPs adopted the idea of launching an international campaign demanding Britain’s apology to the Palestinians on the centennial anniversary of Balfour Declaration.

The Group headed by MP Battersea Walesan listened to a paper presented by Ziad al-Aloul a Palestinian activist living in Britain. He gave a detailed presentation on Balfour Declaration and the tragedies it had caused to the Palestinians.

They approved an idea proposed by MP George Sabbagh to start a parliamentary grouping for Palestine that includes parliamentarians from Latin American countries.

They also supported the idea of MP Fuad Shahin to work towards lifting the blockade imposed on Gaza since 2006.

MP Fuad Shahin had previously visited Gaza and witnessed the disastrous effects of the blockade on the lives of the Palestinian people there.

A number of pro-Palestinian Chilean MPs are preparing for an international campaign starting from the Chilean capital Santiago that calls on the United Kingdom to apologize to the Palestinian people for the Balfour Declaration which paved the way for the establishment of Israel on the land of Palestine in 1948.

Chilean deputies from the parliament affirmed that the vast majority of the political spectrum in Chile advocates the Palestinian cause.

The deputy of the Christian Democratic party Fuad Shahin said in an interview with the Quds Press news agency that half of the deputies of the Chilean parliament support the Palestinian issue and back the UN anti-settlement resolution. They also push to stop importing goods form the Israeli settlements and expedite the approval of the two-state solution and the establishment of a Palestinian state on the 1967 territories.

George Sbakh MP of the Christian Democratic party told the Quds Press that the supporters of Palestine are not only in the parliament but also in all Chilean official institutions and they don’t face major challenges since supporting Palestine is common among Chilean people. Besides pro-Israel activists in the Chilean parliament and government don’t pose any danger he added.

A number of pro-Palestinian Chilean MPs received on Thursday a delegate of Palestinian notables in Europe accompanied by Palestinian journalists. Their visit to Chile comes as a part of activities seeking to shed light on the Palestinians of Chile who make up the largest percentage of Palestinian refugees in Latin American countries.

A group of Chilean MPs are preparing to launch a campaign demanding Britain to apologize to the Palestinian people for the Balfour Declaration on its centennial anniversary. They are also working to unify the endeavors of the pro-Palestinian parliamentarians in Latin America.