In terms of its significance and impact this brief letter, known to the world as the Balfour Declaration, remains unsurpassed. Depending on your point of view it enjoys a place in history as the catalyst of Jewish salvation, leading to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, or the cause of the unremitting injustice and suffering and endured by generations of Palestinians.
In the letter Balfour writes:
"His Majesty's Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by the Jews in any other country."The stance enshrined in these words - involving the government of a European state arrogating to itself the right to hand over part of the land of another people to a third people without bothering to ask or consult said people - is staggering in its iniquity. It bespeaks the injustice upon which the British Empire rested and the country's engagement with the developing world, one rooted in domination, exploitation and naked self-interest.
Comment: In this case, justice may be best served by buying and reading James Bamford's book. After all the trouble the NSA went to supress it, aren't we a little curious about what it says?
The Puzzle Palace: Inside the National Security Agency, America's Most Secret Intelligence Organization