Celebrated by supporters, contested by its detractors,100 years on the Balfour declaration continues to divide opinion. The 67-word letter written by Lord Arthur Balfour, Britain’s then foreign minister, paved the way for the creation of Israel. Palestinians say it also dispossessed them of their land. A century after Britain first declared its support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine, its motives at the time continue to divide opinion. The 67 words penned by Arthur Balfour paved the way for the creation of Israel and is celebrated by most Jews. But Palestinians see it as a crime. "Britain which was the custodian at the time with the French. They had no right to give something that did not belong to them to European Jews," says Soliman Ismail. Thousands demonstrate in London He was one of thousands of protesters who marched through the streets of London to Parliament on the Balfour Declaration's centenary, 2 November, to demand that Britain apologise. "We need to correct that wrong that was done 100 years ago, that continues to happen," Ismail insists. "The Palestinians have suffered for 100 years and they continue to suffer. " Protesters came from all over Britain, waving banners that read: “100 years of injustice”, “Free Palestine” or “Israel is a terrorist state”. "This protest, it was basically about spreading awareness of what the British have done in the plight of the Palestinians," Abdeeq, a member of Stop the War coalition, told RFI. "They still haven't apologised for it. Israel is a terrorist state, Israel is an apartheid state and history will remember the people who supported it." Fate of Israel But pro-Israel campaigners claim that the Palestinians' supporters want to abolish the Jewish state. “The people who are asking for that apology are known to sing at their demonstrations and it was heard at this demonstration, 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free'," Arieh Miller, Executive Director of the Zionist Federation in the UK, said after the protest. "Those who are chanting 'From the river to the sea' are talking about the river Jordan to the Mediterranean sea; they’re talking about wiping Israel off the map. I wouldn’t take anything from people who are looking to wipe a country off the map as serious or gospel or really anything to be taken as anything at all.” Britain and the Zionists Each side is marking the Balfour Declaration centenary in starkly different ways. One piece of paper, two very different views. So is Britain wto blame for today's division between Israelis and Palestinians? “It might never have happened," Rosemary Hollis, professor of Middle East Policy Studies at City University of London, told RFI. "It was the result of some very targeted lobbying on the part of promoters of the Zionist movement." Some argue that it was to help bring in support from the United States and keep Russia in World War I, in the hope that Jews in both places would encourage their countries to stay engaged in the war effort, which in the end never happened. “There was an element of anti-Semitism in the reasoning of Balfour and others," says Hollis. "But it wasn’t so much to promote Zionism as to promote the British cause in Washington with what were perceived to be influential Jews.” Many Jews, howver, praise the letter's "humanitarian aspect". "Jews were living in the land of Palestine in the Holy Land and were under severe pressure by the Turks who were expelling them," says former Israeli diplomat Lenny ben David. "Six thousand were expelled from Jaffa, another 9,000 were expelled from Tel Aviv-Jaffa area. And under such a situation, the idea that there was a support for a Jewish homeland came as almost a humanitarian affair.” Britain's mandate “I think it’s important to also clarify that the letter written by Lord Balfour was contradicted by other promises made by t