A personal view: What the last year showed us about how the UK handles international law and values Palestinian life

By Lara Bird-Leakey 25 October 2024 For 384 days the world has watched the horrors unleashed by a rogue state acting with complete impunity. For 384 days, the UK Government has used the shield of Western democracy to ignore the rule of law and turn a blind eye to the victimisation of the Palestinian people,…

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The role of non-violent resistance for Palestinians in the light of the Gaza war with Jonathan Kuttab

14th November 2024 Jonathan Kuttab is a co-founder of the Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq and co-founder of Nonviolence International. A well-known international human rights lawyer, Jonathan practices in the US, Palestine and Israel. He serves on the Board of Bethlehem Bible College and is President of the Board of Holy Land Trust. Jonathan was…

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The UK abstained at the UN General Assembly on Palestine and Israel earlier this week – here is what the Government needs to do now

On 18 September the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voted to adopt a resolution which reaffirms the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of 19 July 2024. The vote followed a debate concerning Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. There were 124 votes in favour,…

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They’re building another wall

By Lara Bird-Leakey Three months ago, a small village in Area C called Um al-Khair suffered the worst demonstration of settler colonial violence and annexation in the West Bank since 7th October. Seemingly random settler violence ripped through the village and came to a head on the 26th June. Israeli settlers destroyed 25 houses, rendering…

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A Palestinian woman vanishes — under British-era law

On 6 April this year (2024), amid steadily increasing Israeli aggression and oppression in the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank, Israeli security agents seized at gunpoint a 23-year-old Palestinian woman, Layan Nasir, taking her from her home in the town of Bir Zeit, near Ramallah There was no charge, no indication of trial,…

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The US diplomatic strategy on Israel and Gaza is not working

By Daniel Levy US policies strengthen Benjamin Netanyahu – whose political preference in the short term is an open-ended war, not a deal. Kamala Harris should not continue this (This article appeared in The Guardian on 27 Aug 2024) The Biden administration remains in an intense phase of Middle East diplomatic activity working to avoid a regional…

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The United Kingdom, Israel and Palestine: Recognition Q and A 

Click here to download this as a Word document.  Preamble Labour Party election manifesto, 2024 “Palestinian statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people. It is not in the gift of any neighbour and is also essential to the long-term security of Israel. We are committed to recognising a Palestinian state as a contribution…

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Monitoring Progress on Balfour Project asks of our Labour Government

Successes so far: Summary We asked the Government, through David Lammy, the new Foreign Secretary to change its predecessor’s policy now in several ways, consistent with the comprehensive Action Points produced after our annual conference in June. The results so far are: Details UNRWA Funding– Foreign Secretary David Lammy restored UK funding, allocating £21m towards UNRWA’s…

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A New Judaism?

Menachem Klein explores how Israel’s rule over the Palestinians has created a new form of the religion Originally published in Logos. A fundamental question: “Are we, Israelis, still Jews?”, asked the philosopher Ernest Simon in 1953.[1] What looks like a provocative question, was indeed a descriptive statement. He concluded that the establishment of the Jewish…

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Israel and Palestine – A durable peace must be based on human rights & justice

30th July 2024 with Kristyan Benedict, Crisis Response Manager for Amnesty International UK Kristyan Benedict manages Amnesty International UK’s Crisis Response Programme, focusing on armed conflict, mass repression, and UK foreign policy. His work has involved working with and supporting activists and human rights defenders from a range of countries and regions, including Israel/Palestine, Syria, Lebanon,…

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UK Election 2024: the parties reply on Gaza

In answer to the Balfour Project’s request to the four main Westminster parties for their positions on the Gaza situation and the wider crisis in Israel/Palestine, in particular the list of demands that emerged from our annual conference in London on 6 June, we have received three statements: from the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats…

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