Did the Balfour Declaration have lasting consequences?

Question

Has it influenced the way Middle easterners view the policies of England? Has this by association influenced their feeling about allies of the British?

Answer 1

The British government had its interest in the Middle East and the Balfour declaration which is:
Statement issued by the British government in 1917, which is often seen as the initiation of the process leading to the establishment of the State of Israel.
Issuing of the statement is believed to have been motivated just as much by British interests, as by the sympathy for the Zionist cause. At the eve of the World War I Britain needed the support from the World Jewry, which had been neutral, and which represented a large part of the population of Germany and Austria-Hungary. The declaration was drafted with the help of US President, Woodrow Wilson, who was a strong supporter of Zionism.
Secondly, Britain saw the need to protect the sea route to India, which passed through the Suez Canal, upon which much of Britain's economy relied. In accordance with the spirit of the time which emphasized the "self-determination of small nations", supporting Zionism would be the easiest way to secure lasting British influence in the region east of the Canal, especially because the Levant had been Ottoman until 1917.
Lord Rothschild, to whom the letter was addressed, was a leading British Zionist.
http://lexicorient.com/e.o/balfour_d.htm

This is what the BBC has to say
The Balfour Declaration

The Balfour Declaration of 1917 was the first significant declaration by a world power in favour of a Jewish "national home" in what was known as Palestine.
Historians disagree as to what the then British Foreign Secretary, Arthur James Balfour, intended by his declaration. The letter has no mention of the word "state", and insists that nothing should be done "which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine".

The letter was addressed to Lord Rothschild, a leader of the Jewish community in Britain. It became an important arm of the movement to create a Jewish state in Palestine.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/middle_east/israel_and_the_palestinians/key_documents/1682961.stm
Overview of the Balfour Declaration: The Balfour Declaration, a letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Lord Rothschild in which the British made public their support of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, was a product of years of careful negotiation.
After centuries of living in a diaspora, the 1894 Dreyfus Affair in France shocked Jews into realizing they would not be safe from arbitrary antisemitism unless they had their own country. In response, Jews created the new concept of political Zionism in which it was believed that through active political maneuvering, a Jewish homeland could be created. Zionism was becoming a popular concept by the time World War I began.
During World War I, Great Britain needed help. Since Germany (Britain's enemy during WWI) had cornered the production of acetone -- an important ingredient for arms production -- Great Britain may have lost the war if Chaim Weizmann had not invented a fermentation process that allowed the British to manufacture their own liquid acetone.
It was this fermentation process that brought Weizmann to the attention of David Lloyd George (minister of ammunitions) and Arthur James Balfour (previously the British prime minister but at this time the first lord of the admiralty). Chaim Weizmann was not just a scientist; he was also the leader of the Zionist movement.
Weizmann's contact with Lloyd George and Balfour continued, even after Lloyd George became prime minister and Balfour was transferred to the Foreign Office in 1916. Additional Zionist leaders such as Nahum Sokolow also pressured Great Britain to support a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
Though Balfour, himself, was in favor of a Jewish state, Great Britain particularly favored the declaration as an act of policy. Britain wanted the United States to join World War I and the British hoped that by supporting a Jewish homeland in Palestine, world Jewry would be able to sway the U.S. to join the war.
Though the Balfour Declaration went through several drafts, the final version was issued on November 2, 1917, in a letter from Balfour to Lord Rothschild, president of the British Zionist Federation. The main body of the letter quoted the decision of the October 31, 1917 British Cabinet meeting.
This declaration was accepted by the League of Nations on July 24, 1922 and embodied in the mandate that gave Great Britain temporary administrative control of Palestine.

http://history1900s.about.com/cs/holocaust/p/balfourdeclare.htm

So the answer to your question is YES, it did have lasting consequences, it gave the Jews a state which still exists despite numerous wars by the Arab neighboring nations. The Arabs felt and maybe still feel that England has betrayed them. If you read some of the famous Arab historians you will know why.

Answer 2

Balfour Declaration Consequences

Answer 3

I think the declaration has had little influence on the feelings of most in the Middle East. I imagine a survey would find few had any idea what it was or what it meant. Certainly some scholars and others are aware of it, and it may form part of their overaall view of England and her allies.

But I suspect recent events have much greater impact. England's support for US actions in Afghanistan and Iraq are well known in the Middle East, and are the reasons for the recent terrorist attacks in England.

Answer 4

You have to consider the Balfour Declaration in conjunction with the Sikes-Picot Agreement and the Sikes-Picot Agreement in conjunction with the Balfour Declaration.

And, if you are wondering if they have any lasting consequences, we are in the middle of some of those consequences right now.

Answer 5

Terrible consequences.
It was one of the greatest encouragements to the Zionists from Europe to infiltrate Palestine and grab the land from the Christian and Muslim people who had lived there peacefully for centuries.

Answer 6

unfortunately yes