Balfour Project Newsletters
Latest edition- July 2023 February 2023 September 2022
Prime Minister’s Promise to ‘Review’ Moving the UK Embassy to Jerusalem
Prime Minister Liz Truss has told the Israeli Prime Minister that she will ‘review’ the location of HM Embassy to Israel. Below is a well-argued letter to our Foreign Secretary explaining why this would be wrong. The letter is written by two eminent Canadian lawyers. Please consider forwarding their letter to your MP asking them…
The legal vacuum Britain created: how Britain failed its sacred trust of civilisation towards the Palestinian people
By John McHugo Talk given at Abandoning Palestine conference, May 2022. I After the First World War, Britain wanted Palestine for its own imperial purposes: to strengthen its control of the Suez Canal, to provide a land bridge from Egypt to Iraq, and to fulfil its promise in the 1917 Balfour Declaration to facilitate the…
On Impunity and Exceptionalism: Will Israel Be Held Accountable to International Law? – Dr Ramzy Baroud
November 2022 Palestinian author and journalist Dr. Ramzy Baroud discusses the reasons behind Israel’s lack of accountability to international law. While many countries, especially in the Global South, are held accountable to United Nations resolutions and to international humanitarian laws, Israel remains untouched. The role of the UK, past and present. What will it take…
Opportunities for Encounter: Christian pilgrimage and beyond
6pm UK time Wednesday 12th October 2022 THIS WEBINAR WAS NOT RECORDED, BUT PLEASE VIEW THE HANDY LIST OF RESOURCES PROVIDED. Thousands of Christians visit the Holy Land each year with a deep desire to “walk where Jesus walked”. But what impact do these pilgrimages have on the people who inhabit the land and on…
Statement by Daniel Levy, President, US/Middle East Project, to the UN Security Council, Thursday 25 August 2022
I would like to thank the Council and the Chinese presidency in particular for allowing me to share some thoughts with you today. The events of earlier this month covered in detail by Special Envoy Wennesland are as concerning as they are predictable. To be very clear, Israelis deserve security; Palestinians deserve security. Mr President,…
Tory leadership contenders demonstrate alarming bias toward Israel
By Susie Becher in The Times of Israel, published on 29 August 2022 Click here to read this article.
The situation on the ground demonstrates the urgent need to make progress towards a Two-State Solution
Statement by UK Ambassador James Kariuki at the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East Let me start by welcoming the two-year anniversary of the Abraham Accords this month. The Abraham Accords are a historic milestone that bring us closer to the goal of shared prosperity and peace throughout the region. As…
Israeli Raids on Palestinian Civil Society Organizations: The Costs of International Inaction
When: Thursday, August 25, 2022 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM EDT Where: Zoom Webinar Join legal and policy experts to hear how Israel’s measures to terminate the work of six prominent civil society organizations engaged in documenting violations of international law and supporting the International Criminal Court investigation of Israeli officials is harming defense of…
Statement on planning application for new settlement in the West Bank
On 12 September a planning committee in the West Bank will consider an application from the Israeli Defence Ministry for a large new settlement project in the E1 area of the West Bank, to the east of Jerusalem. In response representatives of the Church of Scotland, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church have…
Screening of Boycott followed by Q&A with director Julia Bacha
6pm UK time Tuesday 18th October 2022Tickets £10 If you are a Friend of the Balfour Project, meaning you are a regular giver, or if you sign up here before this event, you will receive a free link to the screening a couple of days before the event. When a news publisher in Arkansas, an…
Book review: How the PLO dropped the ball during the Oslo process
Jerome Segal describes in detail how the PLO Declaration of Independence was composed less than a year after the outbreak of the first Intifada, by whom and for what purpose.
#StandWithThe6
by Jonathan Kuttab 18 Aug 2022 on Friends of Sabeel North America. Last night, Israeli forces raided the offices of all six civil society organizations that it previously labelled as “terrorist organizations,” including Al Haq. Israel ransacked the offices and then sealed the doors by welding them shut. While Al Haq said nothing of theirs was…
Israel Raids Outlawed Palestinian Rights Groups’ Offices in West Bank
Defense Minister Benny Gantz declared six Palestinian human rights groups terrorist organizations in 2021, however, several European countries claim Israel had failed to prove these allegations. By Hagar Shezaf, Jack Khoury and The Associated Press on Aug 18, 2022 in Haaretz. The Israeli army raided the offices of several prominent Palestinian human rights organizations in…
Britain, Israel and Jordan in the 1948 war
Introduction by Avi Shlaim for the Balfour Project to his paper in The Journal of Palestine Studies From 1920 to 1948 Britain held the mandate over Palestine. From the beginning, Britain pursued a pro-Zionist policy which facilitated the Zionist takeover of Palestine. The cornerstone of mandatory policy was to deny representative institutions until the Jews…
Unlawful Israeli army assault on Palestinian human rights organisations in Ramallah, 18 August – proposed action
Dear Supporter, Early on 18 August the Israeli army raided the offices of seven Palestinian human rights and humanitarian organisations in Ramallah. The army also broke into a church. The Israeli Government seeks to suppress the Palestinian right to peaceful protest, threatening to imprison the staff if they return to their offices. Our Foreign Office…
Book review: We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I by Raja Shehadeh
A subtle psychological portrait of the author’s relationship with his father during the twentieth-century battle for Palestinian human rights.
Workshop on teaching the history of Israel-Palestine in schools
On Saturday, 25 June, the Balfour Project hosted an online workshop to encourage more schools to teach this subject. Ninety attended, of whom 25 were practising teachers, 18 of them currently teaching the subject. Over a hundred have viewed the recording since. Three history teachers spoke of the challenges and rewards of teaching this topic…
WATCH ONLINE: Raja Shehadeh: To Absent Fathers
In 1985, Raja Shehadeh’s father Aziz was murdered in a pre-meditated knife attack. The circumstances of the crime are the subject of his Strangers in the House. Today, through his new memoir, Shehadeh sheds a different light on the father-son relationship that still influences him 37 years on. We Could Have Been Friends, My Father And I is…
‘Strangers in My House’: Letters an Expelled Palestinian Sent David Ben-Gurion in 1948, Revealed
Sami Saada was expelled from his apartment in Haifa and in an attempt to reclaim the property sent letters to Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion. The letters went unanswered, but found their way into a new book. By Sheren Falah Saab, published in Haaretz on 10 Aug 2022. On July 11, 1948, nearly two…
Urging all parties to ensure the ceasefire in Gaza is durable and prevents further violence: UK statement to UN Security Council
Statement by Ambassador James Kariuki at the Security Council briefing on the situation in Gaza The United Kingdom joins fellow Council Members in welcoming the ceasefire in Gaza announced last night (August 8, 2022). We express our thanks to Egypt, Qatar and the office of UN Special Coordinator, Tor Wennesland, for their mediation efforts. We…
UNRWA struggles to meet $100m funding shortfall amid UK budget cuts
Severe cuts to Britain’s aid budget leave the agency that provides relief to Palestinian refugees struggling to carry out basic services From the i July 31, 2022 Palestinian refugees are facing three-minute doctor consultations and classes of up to 50 children as the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) struggles to meet a…
Palestinians and Israelis deserve equal measures of peace, security and prosperity
Statement by British Ambassador Barbara Woodward at the UN Security Council open debate on the situation in the Middle East, July 26, 2022 Thank you, President. And, I thank also Deputy Special Coordinator Hastings for her briefing. I’d also like to thank the United States for the update. We were pleased to see President Biden’s…
Email your MP to help #StopE1
Dear Supporter, Illegal Israeli settlements are the biggest threat to Palestinian rights – their rights to their land, to their livelihoods, to self-determination – including the right to sovereign statehood. The Israeli authorities are advancing plans to build a new illegal settlement in an area known as E1. If built, it will complete the encirclement of…
‘Apartheid’ is not sufficient: an interview with UN Human Rights Commissioner Miloon Kothari
UN Human Rights Commissioner Miloon Kothari explains why Apartheid is not enough to explain the root causes of the Palestinian crisis. By David Kattenburg, first published on Mondoweiss on 25 July 2022. Joe Biden’s trip to Israel, occupied Palestine and Saudi Arabia has come and gone. Citing “hostilities with Hamas over eleven days in May…
Informing and influencing the Westminster Parliament
The Balfour Project and CAABU (Council for Arab British Understanding) co-sponsored an event in the House of Commons on 13 July, hosted by David Jones MP (Conservative). Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, spelt out what the UN Agency does to support Palestinian refugees – providing state-like services – and asked MPs to press our Government…
The relentless theft of Occupied Territory
How the Bennett-Lapid Government ruled over the West Bank The presence of left-wing parties in the coalition did little to hinder the ‘change government’ from continuing construction in the West Bank and destroying Palestinian residences By Hagar Shezaf, published in Haaretz In an alternative reality, Har Bracha would be considered a suburb of Nablus, probably…
UK charities call for immediate end to closure of Gaza after 15 years of collective punishment and imposed fragmentation
Caabu is among 16 organisations to have signed onto this statement, calling for an immediate end to the closure of Gaza after 15 years of collective punishment and imposed fragmentation. 20th July 2022 Since June 2007, consecutive Israeli governments have imposed a severe closure regime and blockade on the civilian population of Gaza. This has…
The follies of Biden’s Middle East trip
The president’s July visit to Israel and Saudi Arabia picked up where his predecessor’s regional policies left off By Daniel Levy, published on Responsible Statecraft on 12 July 2022 President Biden’s trip to the Middle East is in danger of delivering a moment of self-mockery, taking to a new high the incredulity of the administration’s…
Children in Gaza need hope
“Gaza is hell on earth for children.” Those are the words of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres. This report from Save the Children explains why.In Gaza, as elsewhere in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the abnormal has become normal, by dint of constant repetition. Nothing about the life of children in Gaza…
Human Rights Watch: torture of Palestinians by Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza
Here is a disquieting report by Human Rights Watch and Lawyers for Justice. It examines breaches of Palestinian human rights by Palestinians – those in authority in the West Bank and Gaza. Like all Human Rights Watch reports, it is carefully documented. The British Government does not talk to Hamas, but has a close working…
The Human Factor followed by Q&A with the director Dror Moreh
Tuesday 20th September at 6pm. The epic behind-the-scenes story of the United States’ 30-year effort to secure peace in the Middle East. Recounted from the unique perspective of the American mediators on the frontlines. Tickets: £10, Free for Friends of the Balfour Project! The film and the Q&A will be available for 7 days after…
Team
Dr Brian Brivati – Executive DirectorBrian was appointed in January 2025 to lead the organisation’s work advocating for peace with justice and equality for Palestinians and Israelis. An historian specialising in the modern British Labour Party and genocide studies, he combines academic expertise with extensive experience in public policy and human rights. He has undertaken…
A Palestinian state now or equal rights until there is a solution
Zoom Webinar, Thursday 15 September 2022 at 3pm UK time. In anticipation of the failure of the Israeli-Palestinian talks convened by the US Secretary of State John Kerry in 2014, Sam Bahour and Dr Tony Klug called for a new international strategy to replace failed peace negotiations, based on a vision of the endgame and…
Education Workshop: Israel-Palestine in secondary schools & having the confidence to teach it
On Saturday, 25 June, the Balfour Project hosted an online workshop to encourage more schools to teach this subject. Ninety attended, of whom 25 were practising teachers, 18 of them currently teaching the subject. Over a hundred have viewed the recording since. Three history teachers spoke of the challenges and rewards of teaching this topic…