Israel followed suit. Palestinians in Israel were characterized as "the minorities," or generic "Israeli Arabs," rather than Palestinians. Israel's perverse nationality laws assign them largely religious classifications as Druze, Arameans (Christians) and Arabs (increasingly synonymous with Muslims).
In occupied East Jerusalem, Palestinians are denied all national and institutional representation. And in the West Bank, the powers of the Palestinian Authority -- supposedly the Palestinians' fledgling government -- extend no further than acting as a security contractor for Israel and carrying out municipal services like garbage collection. In practice, the PA's severely circumscribed authority is confined to a tiny fraction of the West Bank.
As a result, the Palestinians' national ambitions have shrunk precipituously: from Yasser Arafat's struggle for one secular democratic state in all Palestine, to today's enclaves in Gaza and slivers of the West Bank.
Israel has consistently rejected for Palestinians the very self-determination it once demanded from the British.
Mr Netanyahu's government is preparing this week to nullify any lingering hopes of Palestinian statehood with the most significant move towards annexation of Palestinian territory in 40 years, when Jerusalem was annexed. The plan is to greatly expand Jerusalem's boundaries to include large Jewish settlements in the West Bank like Maale Adumim.
In addition, Mr Netanyahu has reportedly promised $230 million to build five highways in the West Bank, aiding movement between Israel and the settlements.
Is there an opposition? Avi Gabbay, new leader of the centre-left Zionist Union, sounds no different from the far-right. This month he stated: "I believe all of the Land of Israel [historic Palestine] is ours." No West Bank settlement would be evacuated, even for the sake of peace, he added.
Britain fulfilled its promise to the Zionists in full, but broke even its feeble commitment to the Palestinians to protect their civil and religious rights. An apology from Britain is long overdue, as are efforts to repair the damage it initiated 100 years ago.
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