Britain Palestine Project
Peace with justice, security and equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians
Online Q&A given in November 2021, following a screening of The Present. The Present can be viewed worldwide on Netflix and other streaming services. Farah Nabulsi is an Oscar nominated and BAFTA Award-Winning Palestinian British filmmaker, based in the UK. The Present is her first film, which she also co wrote. It premiered at Clermont-Ferrand…
Online talk given in October 2021 Jonathan Kuttab is a co-founder of the Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq and co-founder of Nonviolence International. He is Executive Director of Friends of Sabeel North America. Download his book for free. Jonathan Kuttab: Thanks to all of you who are on this call. Clearly you are concerned about…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Nadia Hijab is co-founder and President of Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network, the transnational Palestinian think tank. She is a writer, public speaker and media commentator. Her first book, Womanpower: The Arab debate on women at work was published by Cambridge University Press and she co-authored Citizens Apart: A Portrait of Palestinians in Israel (I.…
John Lyndon is the Executive Director of the Alliance for Middle East Peace (ALLMEP), the largest network of peacebuilding NGOs in Israel/Palestine. He brings with him over a decade of experience leading NGOs concerned with conflict resolution and international development, with a particular focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the pivotal role civil society can…
Thank you all for joining us. I’m privileged to speak to you and address this really important and relevant topic of Christian Zionism as an imperial theology. The impact and influence of Christian Zionism have been manifested, especially in the last four years during the Trump presidency, and it was evident to everyone how influential…
A live online talk in March 2021. Raja Shehadeh is a lawyer and writer and the founder of the pioneering Palestinian human rights organisation Al Haq. Shehadeh is the author of several acclaimed books published by Profile Books including the Orwell Prize-winning Palestinian Walks, as well as Strangers in the House; Occupation Diaries; Language of…
A live online talk given on 10 February 2021 Arabella Dorman: It’s great honour to be with you all tonight and thank you to the Balfour Project for hosting this talk. I’d like really to start with asking a question. What is art for? Why do we do it? We live in a world where…
A live online talk given on 5 January 2021. Ardi Imseis: Thank you. I have been requested to address the issue of why now is the time for the United Kingdom to recognize the State of Palestine. My remarks will be divided into three parts: First, I will briefly recount the prevailing political situation in…
You can watch Open Bethlehem on Vimeo. Below is the excerpt of Open Bethlehem about Rachel’s Tomb, shown during the event. Leila Sansour is a Palestinian/British filmmaker with more than 24 years of experience working in television as a producer, director and writer. She is best known for her two feature documentaries released across cinemas…
Closing Remarks and StatementHE Khaled Al-Duwaisan -Kuwaiti Ambassador to the UKSir Vincent Fean Click here to read the statement. Sir Vincent Fean: I now welcome His Excellency Khaled Al-Duwaisan, Kuwait’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom for the last 27 years. He knows us well – better than we know ourselves. Khaled is the Dean of…
Session VI: Questions and AnswersModerated by Ian BlackPanellists: Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, Daniel Seidemann, Daniel Levy, Rula Salameh, Sir Vincent Fean Ian Black: A question from Andrew Wilkinson, Oxford University: “Does the continued focus on the Balfour Declaration – which is, after all, ambiguously phrased – serve any real purpose in the contemporary political debate?”…
Session V: Britain’s Role in the Coming YearsChair: Sir Vincent FeanKeynote Speaker: Rt Hon Alistair BurtPanellists: Julie Elliott MP (Labour), Tommy Sheppard MP (SNP), Rt Hon Baroness Lindsay Northover (LibDem) Sir Vincent Fean: We are going to talk about the British role in this conflict and in the question of Jerusalem and the future of…
Session IV: Contemporary Realities and Plans to Share the CityChair: Dr Imad Karam (BP Trustee)Keynote Speaker: Daniel LevyPanellists: Ariel Caine, Rula Salameh, Yudith Oppenheimer Conference on Jerusalem Session IV: Contemporary Realities and Plans to Share the City Dr Imad Karam: Let’s start by me welcoming everybody: good afternoon. Welcome to the fourth session of today’s…
Session III: Religion and Holy SitesChair: Bishop Michael Doe (BP Executive Committee)Keynote Speaker: Daniel SeidemannPanellists: Imam Monawar Hussain, Bishop Christopher Chessun, Rabbi Jeremy Gordon Bishop Michael Doe: Good afternoon and welcome back to this Balfour Project Day Conference on Jerusalem: from Past Divisions to a Shared Future? The Balfour project brings together people of many…
Session II: International Law and Human RightsChair: John McHugo (BP Trustee)Keynote Speaker: Baroness Helena Kennedy QCPanellists: Iain Scobbie, Daniel Seidemann & Victor Kattan John McHugo: Good morning, everyone. My name is John McHugo. I’m a trustee of the Balfour Project and am chairing this session on international law. I’ve noticed that speakers have already mentioned…
Introduction Welcome: Sir Vincent Fean (BP Chair of Trustees) Video Message from HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan Session I: History Chair: Andrew Whitley (BP Trustee) Keynote Speaker: Avi Shlaim Panellists:Menachem Klein, Mick Dumper, Salim Tamari Sir Vincent Fean: Welcome to this Balfour Project event. More than 850 attendees have registered to be…
A live online talk given in October 2020. Ian Black: Thanks very much for inviting me to give this talk. It is based on the research for my book, Enemies and Neighbours: Arabs and Jews in Palestine and Israel, 1917-2017, which was published in November 2017 on the centenary of the Balfour Declaration and the…
A talk given online in September 2020. Alon Liel is a courageous man. He dares to speak truth to power, and knows the cost of this in his own life. While calling for an end to occupation and for equal rights for all Israelis and Palestinians, Liel outlines in this talk some of the current…
A talk given online in August 2020. Tim Llewellyn: Hello, everyone. I want to start by saying two basic things to plan out, to map out my thesis, if you like, about the British media coverage, particularly the broadcasting media coverage of the Israel/Palestine question over the past 40 years or so. The first, the…
A live online talk given in July 2020 Welcome everyone. Sarah Helm was a staff correspondent for The Sunday Times and a foreign correspondent for The Independent and she’s written two books, most recently, If This is a Woman about the Nazi concentration camp for women. And she has also written a play about the…
A talk given online in June 2020. Andrew Whitley: My thanks to so many of you for taking the trouble today to attend this online talk from the Balfour Project, I hope you will find it stimulating and thought-provoking. It may be a little confusing at times because we’re going to be jumping between Palestine…
Retired Foreign Office Political Director Sir Jeremy Greenstock talked recently with the Balfour Project Peace Advocacy Fellows about British policy on Palestine/Israel, and answered questions about British Government recognition of Palestine, which he supports, and Israeli annexation plans – which he describes as “illegal, wrong, and a poor policy choice” made by Israeli PM Netanyahu.…
Diana Safieh: A question from Sara Apps, is there an opportunity to unlock the blockage on the ICC application? What best can we do to help? Vincent Fean: Palestine joined the International Criminal Court in 2015 after the UN General Assembly in 2012 voted for non-member state observer status for Palestine in the United Nations.…
Q&A Session with Sir Vincent Fean, Chair of the Balfour Project Vincent Fean: It’s a pleasure to be with you. I think it’s important for us to address questions raised by participants at the 2 April talk. We will try and make a habit of that. Diana Safieh: What is the response so far from…
Q&A Session with Sir Vincent Fean, Chair of the Balfour Project Vincent Fean: It’s a pleasure to be with you. I think it’s important for us to address questions raised by participants at the 2 April talk. We will try and make a habit of that. Diana Safieh: Welcome to the new Balfour Project podcast.…
Q&A Session with Sir Vincent Fean, Chair of the Balfour Project Vincent Fean: It’s a pleasure to be with you. I think it’s important for us to address questions raised by participants at the 2 April talk. We will try and make a habit of that. Diana Safieh: During the talk, Michael Goodwin made the…
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…
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…