Nicholas Frayling in the Church Times: British responsibility for the contradictions in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute gives the UK a duty to right a wrong, A policy of 1917 whose legacy needs addressing. Donald Macintyre in the Guardian Oct 13th ‘A chance to make good on Britain’s broken promise’ is the heading of Donald Macintyre’s article.…
At this 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration which arrives on November 2nd many events, looking at the century of conflict the Declaration has lead to, are taking place around the country. One major one on October 31st at Methodist Central Hall Westminster will acknowledge Britain’s historic responsibilities in the Middle East. It will offer an…
“The BBC Radio Four ‘Sunday’ programme on October 1st included this very fair and balanced report on the forthcoming centenary of the Balfour Declaration. Chris Rose from the Amos Trust, speaking about the unfulfilled promises to the Palestinian people, echoed the call for ‘Equal Rights for All’ which is very much at the centre of…
In ‘Beyond the Balfour Declaration: The 100-Year Quest for Israeli–Palestinian Peace’, Leslie Turnberg has tried to grapple with the difficult problem of achieving peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Omah Amarah is 84 years old. From the amount of energy which sparks up as he gets started on his story you can sense his tale comes from the heart; this is no dry text book account of history we are about to hear as we ask him about how he ended up living in…
William M Mathew compares the work of two Jewish historians on the long-term effects of the inter-communal violence and harsh response by British forces which rocked Palestine in 1929. Part 1.
William M Mathew compares the work of two Jewish historians on the long-term effects of the inter-communal violence and harsh response by British forces which rocked Palestine in 1929. Part 2.
The British Parliament does not often hear an Asian perspective on the Middle East. The very term ‘Middle East’ is Europe-centred; in India the region is known as West Asia. This perspective was offered by Rajmohan Gandhi, a historian and a grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, at a talk to 170 people in the House of…
The Peel Commission published its Palestine Royal Commission-Peel Commission report in July 1937. The report admitted that the mandate was unworkable because Jewish and Arab objectives in Palestine were incompatible, and it proposed that Palestine be partitioned into three zones: an Arab state, a Jewish state, and a neutral territory containing the holy places. Although…
The commission, led by Sir John Woodhead, was formed in March 1938 in response to dissension within the British government over the July 1937 Peel partition plan for Palestine and the re-ignition of the Arab revolt that had followed its promulgation. The new commission was instructed to gather evidence from the various parties and to…
Beckerman-Boys, Carly (2016) ‘The reversal of the Passfield White Paper, 1930-31 : a reassessment.’, Journal of contemporary history., 51 (2). pp. 213-233. Abstract British mandated Palestine has attracted scholarly attention for its role in the development of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Some aspects of the time period, however, remain somewhat overlooked, and one prominent example is…
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 from the ‘Companion Guide’ to the Balfour Project film, ‘Britain in Palestine, 1917-1948’ highlights the…
This article was part of Robert Cohen’s talk at the Balfour Project conference,’How will we mark the centenary of the Balfour Declaration’ in Southwark Cathedral on November 5th 2016: A leading British Rabbi has written: “Zionism and Zionistic activities not only depress Judaism by putting nationality first and religion second, but they injure Judaism by…
This talk was given at the Balfour Project conference in Southwark Cathedral on 5th November 2016 entitled: ‘How will we mark the Centenary of the Balfour Declaration’ By Dr Peter Shambrook Context: it is only in the context of the development of the war that all the promises/agreements that the British government made can be…
‘I never knew that ……’ Liverpool Hope University 1st October 2016 The use of round tables in the Eden Arbour Room at Liverpool Hope University facilitated a welcome and a warmth to the buzz of conversation as participants in the Balfour Project conference gathered to consider the ‘Balfour Declaration Centenary, 2017: towards constructive commemoration.’ We…
Charles Glass, writing in the London Review of Books in 2001, reviewed two books looking at the period of the British Mandate in Palestine. The review is reproduced here by kind permission.
Parliamentarians from all four of Britain’s main political parties sponsored a showing of ‘Britain in Palestine, 1917-1948’ in The Attlee Suite – one of the main conference suites in the British Parliament. The audience of 130 watched the documentary, which tells the story of Britain’s role in Palestine 1917-1948, and then took part in a…
by WILLIAM M. MATHEW Lecture given to the History Group of The Norfolk Club, 14 April 2016 to mark the centenary of the Sykes-Picot Agreement 1916 Abstract These three war-time initiatives are presented as part of a compressed, uncoordinated, two-year sequence set against the changing circumstances of international rivalries, imperial anxieties, and domestic politics. Contradictions …
Dr. Nadia Naser-Najjab finds in Jeffries’ documentations of 1923 a significant mix of parallels and contrasts with current British attitudes and policies towards Palestine.
Scores of people squeezed into Sarum College, Salisbury, to hear from experts on the Balfour Declaration of 1917 which gave British support to a home for Jews in historical Palestine. The Very Reverend Nicholas Frayling said the declaration was the defining document which had never been fully implemented. The former Dean of Chichester Cathedral –…
Held at St Chad’s College Durham 31st October 2015 Summary Report Seventy people from places as far apart as Omagh, Norwich, Somerset, Inverness, Salisbury and Edinburgh, spent Saturday 31st October in Durham reflecting on Britain’s responsibilities, past and present, for today’s situation in Israel/Palestine. The occasion was the Balfour Project’s annual conference which takes place…
Concluding remarks at Balfour Project meeting in Durham – 31.10.2015 by the Very Rev Nicholas Frayling One of the questions we as members of the BP are often asked is: ‘Why didn’t I know about this?’ Today, even those who have wrestled with the agonies of Palestine and Israel for years have surely deepened their…
St Chad’s College, Durham University, 31 October 2015 ‘I believe there is a constructive role for the UK in bringing about a just peace. It is good to look back in order to look forward. The Balfour Declaration helped bring about Israel, and Israel is here to stay, and its right to exist in peace…
By Dr William M Mathew Paper given at Balfour Project Annual Conference St. Chad`s College, University of Durham, 31 October 2015 In the limited time available I should like to make three basic points around this specific issue of fragility – and, in the process, move the emphasis away from the usual (and entirely proper)…
By Dr Peter Shambrook Paper given at the Balfour Project conference, Britain and Palestine: past history & future role, Durham, Oct 31st 2015 Abstract The origins of the McMahon-Hussein Correspondence – and the subsequent official interpretations, and the controversies surrounding those interpretations – are essential to the understanding of a great deal of Middle-Eastern diplomatic…
The Companion Guide has been professionally written for us, and gives fascinating background to the history introduced in the film. To give you an idea of what is in it see the section on the Balfour Declaration. It has 83 fully-referenced pages together with a detailed list of primary and secondary sources. The Companion Guide…
What has been the historic role of Britain that has led to the present day tragic situation in Israel/Palestine? This was the theme engaged with by a very mixed group of over seventy people as part of the Thatcham Festival. The mayors of both Thatcham and Newbury were present and both spoke very appreciatively at…
Britain in Palestine 1917-1948 investigates the contradictory promises and actions which defined British Mandatory rule in Palestine and laid the groundwork for the Nakba (the catastrophe) and the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. The roots of the contemporary social, political, economic, and environmental landscape of Palestine and Israel can be traced back…
Given the sheer improbability of the Balfour Declaration, its source in temporary war-time contingencies, its activation of inter-communal conflict in Palestine, and its exposure to increasing opposition both at home and in the Levant, the 1917 War Cabinet pledge to Zionism was in manifest danger of collapse in the early 1920s in advance of…
By Claudia Beamish MSP Posted on February 11, 2015 by Claudia The Scottish Parliament recently played host to an exhibit from the Balfour Project on British historic involvement in Palestine. The Project seeks to raise awareness of the Balfour Declaration, an agreement made by the UK Government in 1917 promising a homeland for the Jewish…
My dictionary defines Zionism as “a movement for the re-establishment of a Jewish national homeland and state in Palestine.” This was realized in May 1948 when the State of Israel was established. Many Jews are Zionists and committed to the quest for freedom and sovereignty of their people. But the majority of the world’s Zionists…
Commemorating the 97th Anniversary of the Balfour Declaration Report of Balfour Project conference, Britain in Palestine 1917-1948 in St John’s College, Oxford, Oct 30th 2014. A common theme from speakers at the Balfour Project’s annual event was that Britain’s history in the Middle East lays a responsibility on us to be more active in helping…
By Roger Spooner In 1915 Sir Henry McMahon, British High Commissioner in Egypt, offered Sherif Hussein of Mecca an independent Arab state if he would help the British fight against the Ottoman Turks. Hussein’s interest in throwing off his Turkish overlords converged with Britain’s war aim of defeating the Ottomans. There has been much disagreement…
Peter A. Shambrook presents the history of the British Mandate for Palestine in the period 1930-1947, highlighting its very negative outcomes for the Palestinian population. In doing so, Shambrook calls for Britain to accept responsibility for its past wrongdoings as a necessary pre-requisite to making any helpful contribution to the current Palestinian/Israeli deadlock. The British…
On this day he entered Jerusalem, modestly on foot, two days after the Turks surrendered it, after several attempts. By David B. Green | Dec. 11, 2014 | 3:46 AM from Haaretz In December 11, 1917, General Edmund Allenby, commander of the British “Egyptian Expeditionary Force,” entered Jerusalem, two days after the Turkish forces occupying…
By William M. Mathew, Senior Fellow in History, University of East Anglia Lecture given as part of the Contemporary Middle East Lecture Programme, School of Oriental and African Studies, 28 October 2014 I I should begin by briefly explaining the three-part title: “Contingency, Imperialism, and Double-Dealing” – these bearing on the one…