Balfour 100 years on: Salvation or betrayal?

In this UpFront special we debate the history and legacy of the Balfour Declaration 100 years after its writing.

"One nation, solemnly promised to a second nation, the country of a third." That's how one writer famously described the Balfour Declaration - the declaration by then-British Foreign Minister Arthur Balfour, on November 2, 1917, that said, "His Majesty's government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. [...]" 

One hundred years later, the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians continues, with no sign of any sort of resolution. So, how central was the Balfour Declaration to later developments and what role did Britain play subsequently?

Should the declaration be celebrated as the first step towards the establishment of the state of Israel and self-determination for the Jewish people, or decried as an act of betrayal by the British, who had also promised Palestine to the Arabs?