• cover image     The Balfour Pivot: How 1917 Reconfigured Jewish Relations with Christendom and Islam - Umar Ardo, PhD Further to the discussion of my previous article, let me start this essay by stating that the Balfour Declaration of 1917 on the resettlement of Jews in Palestine as their primary Homeland did not create the Judeo-Christian interfaith dynamics out of nothing; rather, it accelerated and reconfigured trajectories that started earlier in ways that made new alliances and antagonisms politically useful. Specifically, in the 17th century, more concrete shift appeared in England under Oliver Cromwell. Aiming to rubbish the policies of the monarchy that he overthrew, Cromwell officially allowed Jews to return to England after centuries of expulsion. Likewise, the Jacobins who overthrew the monarchy in the French Revolution made an unprecedented move by granting Jews full citizenship of France. Also, after coming to p...

Great conflicts are rarely just about territory, weapons or diplomacy. They are often struggles over deeper questions: Who holds moral authority? Who carries the responsibility of defending a civilization? And what happens when those entrusted with that responsibility abandon it? 2. Across history, moments of geopolitical confrontation have frequently exposed deeper moral and civilizational shifts. The present conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States may be one such moment; one that forces the Muslim world to confront uncomfortable questions about leadership, autonomy and responsibility! In the Islamic worldview, such historical transformations are not accidental. They are tied to a moral law as articulated with remarkable clarity in the Holy Qur’an 47:38: “And if you turn away, He will replace you with another people; then they will not be like you.” 3. Classical Islamic tradition records that when this verse was discussed, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW) placed his hand ...