A new report from international development and humanitarian organisation Christian Aid has highlighted the deep inequalities which divide Palestinians and Israelis across Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory and threaten a further escalation of violence and loss of life if left unaddressed. Click here to download the report. Four months ago violence erupted along the…
Human rights case that a UK church took up The young Palestinian woman, Layan Nasir, whom Israeli security forces arrested at her Ramallah area home in a dawn raid last July, has been remanded on bail by an Israeli military court until November 9 on charges of belonging to an unlawful association. Layan, who is…
‘Fair Observer’ talks to Avi Shlaim, professor emeritus of international relations at St. Antony’s College, Oxford By Abul-Hasanat Siddique & Avi Shlaim September 16, 2021 The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has waxed and waned for several decades. The roots of it stem far beyond the most recent clashes in May that once again brought death and disaster to the region.…
Statement by UK Ambassador Barbara Woodward at the Security Council Briefing on the Middle East Delivered at the UN on September 29, 2021 Madam President, the United Kingdom welcomes recent engagement between the Israeli Government and the Palestinian leadership, including the meeting between Palestinian President Abbas and Israeli Defence Minister Gantz on 29 August. We…
Article on the Balfour Project Fellows published in Arab Banker Magazine, Autumn 2021 Two years ago, a British charity, the Balfour Project, began sponsoring groups of students to explore and report on key areas of the asymmetrical conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians, in order to promote a better understanding of this conflict and…
The Balfour Project opposes and condemns racism and racial, religious and ethnic prejudice of all types. We believe in the promotion of a society that is tolerant and understanding of all races, cultures, and faiths. In particular, and bearing in mind our aims and objectives, we do not tolerate any form of racism or prejudice…
Statement by UK Ambassador Barbara Woodward at the Security Council briefing on the Middle East Delivered on 30 August 2021. Let me start by once again reinforcing the need to prevent a further escalation in violence in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories and to restore calm. We share concerns about the recent tensions in…
Online talk given in September 2021 Hannah is the director and a founder of Yachad. Yachad works to mobilise British Jews in support of a political resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She previously chaired the Jewish Social Action Forum for two years, bringing together leading Jewish communal organisations to develop the community’s social action agenda…
By Julie Elliott MP Europe is neighbour, friend and trading partner to both Israel and Palestine. Economically, the EU/Israel Association Agreement matters greatly to Israel, affording free access to its biggest market. The same terms apply to the UK/Israel Trade Agreement, post-Brexit. Trade between Europe and the Occupied Palestinian Territory – I call it Palestine…
Online talk given in August 2021 Sir Vincent Fean was a member of the British Diplomatic Service between 1975 and 2014. His last post was as Consul-General, Jerusalem (2010-14). Before Jerusalem, he was Ambassador to Libya, and previously High Commissioner to Malta. Sir Vincent Fean: I will begin with what the Balfour Project charity is…
By William M. Mathew. A. INTRODUCTION: A JEWISH ITINERARY B. NEW YORK TIMES REPORTS – PALESTINE C. NEW YORK TIMES REPORTS – SYRIA (AND HOME) D. CONCLUSION: THE ARAB PRESENCE E. END NOTE BIBLIOGRAPHY A. INTRODUCTION: A JEWISH ITINERARY Arthur Balfour`s visit to Palestine in the spring of 1925 came at the invitation of the…
Click here to visit the official Tinderbox website. THETINDERBOX – TRAILER from Tinderbox Film on Vimeo. Panel discussion with director of The Tinderbox Gillian Mosely, Amos Trust trustee Robert Cohen and Balfour Project executive committee member Tim Llewellyn.
July 2021 Sophie Bridger served as a Human Rights Monitor with the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel in 2019. During her time in the West Bank, she observed numerous human rights violations, and witnessed the impact of ongoing occupation on children and local families. Since her return, she has talked about what she…
This is not a dispute between equals that can be resolved through bilateral negotiations The writer is a former secretary-general of the UN and deputy chair of The Elders It is time to acknowledge that the longstanding approach taken to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict by the international community has failed and a new one is…
Speech given at Middle Temple Hall, 2 July 2021 It is great to be here to celebrate the centenary of the Palestine Police so energetically organised by Ralph Cairns. I wish the BPPA many happy returns. The Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem lasted for almost a century, but crusader times which were very different from our…
This booklet has been published by the British Palestine Police Association (BPPA) for the centenary of the Palestine Police which carried the main burden of law and order during the British Mandate. The Force was at first mainly locally recruited with British senior officers, but the difficulty of policing by Arabs or Jews, given the political emotions involved, led…
Click here to read coverage in The National News. The majority of Britons today are ignorant of Britain’s colonial role in Palestine and its impact on the current reality. This is one of the key reasons why some people are simply unaware of this issue. The Balfour Project launched its first ever virtual art exhibition…
The Education Ministry has for many years been guilty of replacing historical facts with political views about key aspects of the formation of the state. We must regain control of our educational system. Published in Haaretz in January 2016. By Shaul Arieli Our culture is characterized by endless reams of information, which we receive unfiltered,…
Published by Liz Lightfoot in The Guardian on 8 June 2021. The government has warned schools to ensure a balanced presentation of opposing views on the conflict between Israel and Palestine, which claimed more than 250 lives last month and sparked a wave of classroom protests in the UK. But teachers may struggle to comply because the only exam board to…
Neither Pro-Zionist nor Pro-Arab but Pro-Empire A Reassessment of British Policy in the Palestine Mandate Eugene Rogan is Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History at Oxford University, where he has taught since 1991, a Fellow of St Antony’s College and Director of the Middle East Centre. He took his B.A. in economics from Columbia, and…
Written 31 May 2021 We welcome the support that European leaders have expressed for the ICC and its unique mandate of advancing justice following war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Consistent support for the ICC and promotion of its universal reach highlight Europe’s serious commitment to deter such violations and to promote a rules-based…
MPs send No.10 the Balfour Project call for the strict application of international law, including via the ICC, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Pro-Israel bias and misrepresentation of the Israel/Palestine situation has been a feature of much of mainstream media for some years. Now GCSE textbooks, published by Pearson and Hodder, have come under intense attention from pro-Israel advocates. As a result, Hodder has discontinued entirely publication of its own textbook title Conflict in the Middle East, 1945–95,…
Published in the Middle East Monitor on 2 June 2021. The BBC has removed a series of educational videos about Palestine and the origins of the ongoing Israeli occupation and ethnic cleansing, following pressure from a pro-Israel lobbyist organisation, UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI). The videos formed part of a 7-part GCSE Bitesize series, and were intended to teach…
By Michael Sfard, an Israeli human rights lawyer, in The Guardian, 3 June 2021. Michael Sfard was a keynote speaker at our conference entitled ‘Israel/Palestine: in search of the rule of law’ in May 2021 and his talk can be viewed here. When I first heard this argument from Palestinians 20 years ago, I rejected…
Posted May 31, 2021 by Rashid Khalidi in MR Online. The events of the last few weeks have provoked worldwide recognition of realities on the ground in Occupied Palestine, realities of systemic discrimination, of oppression, and of settler colonialism. People have responded to the images that emerged from different parts of Palestine and were diffused by social media.…
Balfour Project statement, 26 May 2021 Equal rights under the law are the foundation stone of all democracies. Israel views itself as a democracy. But many in Israel and around the world, including in Britain, were dismayed by the Knesset’s adoption in 2018 of the discriminatory Nation State Law. This declares that the right to…
Speaking at the Balfour Project online 2-day conference “Israel/Palestine: in search of the rule of law” on 25/26 May 2021 Click here to view the other speakers at the conference. Sir Vincent Fean: Good day, everybody. And welcome to our 1200 plus attendees at this conference. I speak today for the Balfour Project charity, which…
Speaking at the Balfour Project online 2-day conference “Israel/Palestine: in search of the rule of law” on 25/26 May 2021 Click here to view the other speakers at the conference. Lord Alderdice: Wayne David is Member of Parliament for Caerphilly for the last 20 years. I think this is your 20th anniversary, Wayne. It’s very…
Speaking at the Balfour Project online 2-day conference “Israel/Palestine: in search of the rule of law” on 25/26 May 2021 Click here to view the other speakers at the conference. Andrew Whitley: I would like to now introduce Lord Alderdice, John Alderdice, veteran peacemaker and someone who played a very important role in the resolution…
Speaking at the Balfour Project online 2-day conference “Israel/Palestine: in search of the rule of law” on 25/26 May 2021 Click here to view the other speakers at the conference. Michael Lynk: And I think it is now my happy occasion to then turn our proceedings to a panel discussion, which I’m going to be…
Speaking at the Balfour Project online 2-day conference “Israel/Palestine: in search of the rule of law” on 25/26 May 2021. Click here to view the other speakers at the conference. Andrew Whitley: Good afternoon and welcome, everyone. My name is Andrew Whitley and I am very pleased to be able to introduce today’s conference. I’m…
Speaking at the Balfour Project online 2-day conference “Israel/Palestine: in search of the rule of law” on 25/26 May 2021. Click here to view the other speakers at the conference. Dominic Grieve QC: Good afternoon. We are now going to follow up with Zaha Hassan who’s going to speak to us as to why a…
Speaking at the Balfour Project online 2-day conference “Israel/Palestine: in search of the rule of law” on 25/26 May 2021. Click here to view the other speakers at the conference. Dominic Grieve QC: Now it’s my great pleasure to introduce Philippe Sands. Philippe, good afternoon to you. Good to see you. I don’t think you…
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Sir Vincent Fean, Chair of the Balfour Project Trustees and former Consul-General in Jerusalem, and Professor Adam Sutcliffe, Professor of European History at King’s College, London, and member of the steering group, Independent Jewish Voices, have issued the following statement about the crisis. It comes in advance of next week’s conference, ‘Israel-Palestine: in search of…