Paul Calvert caught up with film maker Hugh Kitson

Hugh Kitson is a film and documentary maker from England, he makes films about Israel; one such film is called The Forsaken Promise which looks at Great Britain's role in the establishment of the State of Israel.

I spoke to him in Jerusalem and asked him what this film was all about.

"This film is a three part series about the British mandate over Palestine as it was then called between 1918 and 1948 and what Britain had failed to do hence the title 'The Forsaken Promise'.

"The film looks at the Balfour Declaration now. The Balfour Declaration was a statement of Government policy. In the evangelical church in England there was a broad vision for the restoration for the nation of Israel, particularly of the Jews to the land.

"Believers understood for the Lord Jesus to return there had to be an establishment of the Jewish state of Israel and Jews coming back and being in the land of Israel. That was the spiritual climate of the church in those days.

"There were many people who were not only looking for the Lords return but also looking for the Jews to be restored to the nation of Israel. Among those were the Wesley brothers, George Whitfield, and William Wilberforce, famous for the abolition of slavery. They were praying and encouraging others about the restoration of Israel.

"In many ways the Balfour Declaration was the fruit of all that. The Balfour Declaration was written by the 10 members of the war cabinet in 1917 and 7 out of 10 of those men were Evangelical Christians. Including the Prime Minister David Lloyd George and the Foreign Secretary Lord Balfour. So the Balfour Declaration really did have a spiritual significance.

"The Balfour Declaration in itself was nothing more than a statement of Government policy and as such had no legal binding or force. But when the British Mandate was awarded by the league of Nations in 1920 the Balfour Declaration was incorporated nearly word for word into the mandate. That actually raised the Balfour Declaration to the status of an international treaty, so the mandate handed down to Britain obligated them to create a Jewish homeland for the Jewish people.

"So Britain not only forsook her pledge to the Jewish people through the Balfour Declaration but she actually reneged on her obligation under the international treaty of the British Mandate. As a result of that when Hitler came to power and was persecuting the Jews in Germany, when the Jews of Germany wanted to come to Palestine they suddenly found that the gates of their ancient homeland were shut to them. As a result of that there are 100's and 1000's of Jews who perished in the Holocaust who could have otherwise escaped. Britain is actually responsible for the death of many Jews.

"I made this film because there are very few British people who know anything about the British Mandate. People need to be educated about this part of history which I have to say is the darkest chapter of Britain's modern history.

"Also in a spiritual sense Britain had a divine calling to establish the Nation of Israel and we turned our backs on that calling so I see that God has a serious grievance against the nation of Britain and we've never actually faced up to that and there needs to be repentance.

"It's interesting that after the end of the British Mandate in 1948 the British Empire virtually fell apart, which I and many others see as Gods judgement on this once Godly nation.

"The film goes through Britain's history regarding the Balfour Declaration and I hope spurs people on to pray for repentance and pray for forgiveness for what we have done as a nation to the Jewish people.