Britain’s Policy of Deceit
Britain, Palestine and a history of broken promises: a summary of the book’s narrative, with links to reviews and an interview with the author.
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Letter from Balfour Project Chair to Sir Keir Starmer on the Economic Activities of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill.
30 June 2023 Dear Sir Keir, Economic Activities of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill: If Labour’s “reasoned amendment” is voted down in Parliament on Monday, please vote against the Bill I write on behalf of the trustees of the Balfour Project charity, dedicated to raising awareness in Britain of our role in Palestine before the…
First Encounter: The King-Crane Commission and Palestine, 1919
Martin A. Smith Origins and background Though little-remembered today, the 1919 Inter-Allied Commission on Mandates in Turkey, more popularly known as the King-Crane Commission after its two co-chairs, was the first and one of the most important of the 21 commissions or committees of inquiry that were sent to Palestine over the three-decade period beginning…
Timeline 1900 – 1954 and the end of the Mandate
1901 Keren Kayemeth [Jewish National Fund] founded as land-acquisition organ of WZO; land acquired by JNF in Palestine to be inalienably Jewish, and exclusively Jewish labour to be employed on it. 1903 Lloyd George’s law firm acted for Herzl in negotiations on a Jewish community in Uganda. Lloyd George drafted a charter for the ‘Jewish…
Britain in Palestine, 1838–1882: the roots of the Balfour policy
By Alexander Schloch As the Ottoman Empire began to open to European penetration, between 1831 and 1840, the various Powers, including the British, strengthened their presence in Palestine and their footholds in the empire by establishing diplomatic missions and setting up religious missions supporting particular minorities. Well before the establishment in strength of the Zionist…
Timeline – 19th Century
Early 1800s Literal reading of the Bible, which had started in the 1600s, develops further, influenced by John Nelson Darby, Edward Irvine and Prophetic Conferences such as those in Albury. 1840 Lord Shaftesbury, best remembered for legislation on child labour and mental health issues but less for his form of evangelical Christianity, takes an advert…
Timeline – Early History: Common Era
66-70 Romans suppress a major Jewish revolt and the Temple is destroyed. The conquering Roman general, Vespasian, became emperor. 132-135 The Bar Kokba revolt. Jews barred from entering Jerusalem. The Romans name the province Syria Palaestina. Jews move North into Galilee, being banned from Jerusalem 312 Edict of Milan. Constantine begins the process of Christianising…
Timeline – Before the Common Era
Early History Before the Common Era 2000-1500 BCE Re-establishment of strong political power in Egypt with advent of the Middle Kingdom led to revitalisation and expansion of trade routes and a period of great prosperity in the Levant. It witnessed the full flowering of Canaanite culture. The situation was further enhanced when, around 1750 BC,…
When Desmond Tutu stood up for the rights of Palestinians, he could not be ignored
After their obituary on Archbishop Tutu which did not mention his fight for justice for Palestinians, and moderating out posts highlighting this, the Guardian then published When Desmond Tutu stood up for the rights of Palestinians, he could not be ignored and restored the deleted posts. An Observer obituary not mentioning Palestine or Israel was…
Desmond Tutu to Haaretz: This Is My Plea to the People of Israel
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu wrote an exclusive article for Haaretz in 2014, in which he called for a global boycott of Israel and urged Israelis and Palestinians to look beyond their leaders for a sustainable solution to the crisis in the Holy Land. This article was republished in full by Haaretz following Desmond Tutu’s death.…
The Balfour Declaration
It is no exaggeration that the history of Israel/Palestine for the last hundred years has turned on the seminal Balfour Declaration of November 1917. Loved and loathed in equal measure, this was the letter that changed the future. The following extract of the Balfour Declaration from the ‘Companion Guide’ to the Balfour Project film, ‘Britain…
Evaluating the Balfour Declaration: Breaking the Deadlock in the Middle East
On Saturday May 18th 2013, the Balfour Project held a one day conference at The Stripe, University of Winchester exploring the different legacies of the Balfour Declaration and how a greater understanding of history can contribute to justice and peace in the Middle East today. Speakers included, Professor Mary Grey, Rabbi Professor Dan Cohn-Sherbok, Dr…
The best book on the Balfour Declaration is…
Palestine: The RealityThe inside story of the Balfour Declaration 1917–1938 by J.M.N. Jeffries Published: 1939, reissued 2017 Formats: Hardback, paperback ISBN: 9781911072126 £26.99 First published by Longman Green and Co. Reissued by Olive Branch Press and Skyscraper Publications. Paperback £26.99 By John McHugo Many people trying to get to grips with the Israel/Palestine conflict…
Peel Commission Report 1937
League of Nations 30 November 1937 C.495.M.336.1937.VI.Geneva, November 30th, 1937. LEAGUE OF NATIONS MANDATES P A L E S T I N E ——– REPORT of the PALESTINE ROYAL COMMISSION presented by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to the United Kingdom Parliament by Command of His Britannic Majesty (July 1937) Distributed at the…
Screening with Q&A – Britain in Palestine: 1917-1948
3pm UK time, Thursday 7th May 2020 Click here to register.
The Making of From Balfour to Banksy
Miranda Pinch It all started on the evening of April 18, 2017, the day that the date of the next British General Election was announced. I was attending a Balfour Project meeting in the House of Lords. After the meeting a dinner was laid on for invited guests, some of whom were MPs, who because…
Thoughts on Nabil Fahmy’s suggestions for Palestinian policy
Click here to read Nabil Fahmy’s The “Deal” of the Century? Nabil Fahmy writes: ‘The Trump plan imposes Israeli security and economic control over a self-autonomous Palestinian entity’ Below are Sir Vincent Fean’s thoughts on Fahmy’s suggestions. Dr Nabil Fahmy, former Foreign Minister of Egypt, is well placed to offer policy advice to the Palestinian…
Palestine/Israel: Britain’s role, then and now
Online talk by Sir Vincent Fean, Balfour Project, 2 April 2020 Read the transcript below: Vincent: A welcome to all. Thank you all for joining the Balfour Project today. I think it’s important to have this discussion to keep the spotlight on an issue which only gets worse with neglect. And at this time of…
The Hundred Years’ War On Palestine A history of settler colonial conquest and resistance
One of the many merits of the book is the way Khalidi uses his family and his own life experience to tell this tragic, yet-to-be-righted, story of the Palestinians.
Burying the Nakba: How Israel Systematically Hides Evidence of 1948 Expulsion of Arabs
This article from Haaretz, which was published in July 2019, describes how Israel is suppressing information on what actually happened during the Nakba.
A welcome move
As concerned citizens of Israel, we welcome the publication of the UN database of companies doing business with Israeli settlements in the occupied territories. The settlements deprive Palestinians of their basic freedoms and block their economic development. They sabotage the possibility of a peaceful two-state solution and thus also threaten the future of Israel itself. …
Where Is the World for the Palestinians?
By El Hassan bin Talal AMMAN – It should come as no surprise that US’s proposed peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians bears all the hallmarks of a real-estate transaction. This supposed “Deal of the Century” certainly embodies none of the ingredients of successful conflict resolution, including talking and listening, accommodation of core interests,…
Jerusalem and The Deal of The Century: What it Is, What it Isn’t, Does it Matter?
Daniel Seidemann on the Trump plan’s implications for Jerusalem An Israeli lawyer based in Jerusalem, Daniel Seidemann is the world’s leading expert on the city’s built landscape and a key reference source for many governments. Founder of the Terrestrial Jerusalem website, he has long been an advocate for Palestinian property rights, in the face of…
Balfour Project Denounces President Trump’s Proposal which will only perpetuate the Israeli/Palestinian conflict; calls upon the British Government to take immediate remedial action to uphold a genuine two-state solution.
There’s a strong parallel between the Balfour Declaration and the Trump Vision. In both of the two historical circumstances -and the Trump plan is historical – a foreign state arrogated to itself the right to bestow to one people territory that belonged, through history and international law, to another. The United States,like Britain in 1917,…
A Statement by the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem on the “Deal of the Century”
After a thorough consideration of the United States of America’s Middle East peace plan, also known as, the “Deal of the Century”,and after reviewing the reactions of all concerned parties on the matter, we, Patriarchs and Heads of the Holy Land Churches, affirm our strong devotion to achieving a just and comprehensive peace in the…
As prominent Israelis dedicated to peace, we oppose Trump’s apartheid plan
Published in a letter to the Independent 30 January 2020 As Israelis dedicated to a peaceful future for our country and for our Palestinian neighbours, we state our principled opposition to the Trump administration’s plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This plan will not solve but deepen the conflict, engendering a degree of inequality not seen…
Remarks by HRH The Prince of Wales at a reception in Bethlehem
24 January 2020 Throughout my life, I have tried, in whatever very small way I can, to foster greater understanding between people of different faiths, to heal divisions and to remind people of so much that we share in common as opposed to what divides us. Indeed, as it says in Psalm 133 ‘behold, how…
You are right, Prime Minister: Israel needs a Palestinian State. We should recognise it, now: Open Letter to Boris Johnson from Sir Vincent Fean
Dear Prime Minister, This month HRH Prince Charles visits Israel and Palestine together for the first time, invited by Presidents Rivlin and Abbas. He will undertake engagements on your behalf in both countries. This is historic, and welcome. For more than a century of reasons, Palestine is a country meriting equal treatment, equal rights and…
The time is right to recognise Palestine
Text of letter published in The Times, January 20th 2020 THE TIME IS RIGHT TO RECOGNISE PALESTINESir, Today Britain attends her last EU foreign affairs council. On the agenda is the Middle East peace process, which must address recognition of the state of Palestine, alongside Israel. The UK retains historical responsibilities regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,…
Holy Land Coordination 2020
We must not ignore the voice of people in the Holy Land Every year we come to encounter and hear the people of the Holy Land. We are inspired by their enduring resilience and faith in a worsening situation. In their recent powerful message, the local Catholic Bishops lamented the international community’s failure to help…
The status of West Bank settlements under international law.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cannot rewrite international law. By John McHugo , Balfour Project Trustee and International Lawyer Following the comments by the US Secretary of State on Monday, we have felt it necessary to clarify the legal status of the Israeli civilian settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Existing British government policy is…
Let’s not pretend Washington ever really tried to stop Israeli settlements
Aaron David Miller and Daniel Kurtzer, The Washington Post Published 6:19 am EST, Friday, November 22, 2019 By most accounts, the Trump administration’s decision to treat Israel’s settlement enterprise as a legal endeavor is a retreat by the United States from an almost universally accepted norm of international law. The United States and the current Israeli…
Book review: The Balfour Declaration – Empire, the Mandate and Resistance in Palestine by Bernard Regan
Bernard Regan shows us what Britain did (and what Britain thought it was doing) by issuing the Balfour Declaration, by incorporating it into the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine, and by governing Palestine in a way intended to implement it.
Britain in Palestine Exhibition
We have PDF copies of these panels at A1 size. We also have printed copies mounted on polystyrene and suitable for use in an exhibition. If you would like to set up an exhibition and hire these mounted panels or have a set of the pdf copies please email info@balfourproject.org. This is the first of…
Book review: Legacy of Empire – Britain, Zionism and the Creation of Israel by Gardner Thompson
An eloquent account of the disastrous course and consequences, still with us, of Britain’s 31 years’ ownership of and faltering rule in Palestine.