Post Conflict Gaza; Construction or Reconstruction with Charlie Bird OBE

January 2024 Watch Video Listen to Audio/Podcast In conversation with Andrew Whitley, Balfour Project Chair.  From 2010 to November 2018 Charles Bird, OBE, was a Teaching Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence (CSTPV), University of St Andrews, Scotland, UK, and was Course Tutor for the Certificate and Advanced Certificate…

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Parliamentary Questions

Gaza: Ceasefires Question for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office UIN 24082, tabled on 29 April 2024 https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-04-29/24082 Question  Rachael Maskell, LabourCommons To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent progress he has made on helping to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza. Answer Mr Andrew Mitchell, ConservativeCommons Answered on 9 May 2024 The fastest way to…

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Past Parliamentary Questions

Written and Oral Questions and Answers that can be found in Hansard (the Official Report) which is the edited verbatim report of proceedings of both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.   Topics Annexation Archaeology COVID-19  Detention of Palestinian children by Israel Environmental issues Education of Israeli and Palestinian children Elections Forced…

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Many more will die from attacks, disease and famine if we do not stop the humanitarian catastrophe: UK statement at the UN Security Council

by British Ambassador Barbara Woodward, at the UN Security Council meeting on Gaza on 29 Dec 2023.   President, let me start with the humanitarian crisis. The 21 Dec IPC [Infection Prevention and Control] report records that more people are in ‘phase five’ famine in Gaza than in the rest of the world combined. Yesterday,…

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Keys Gaza Special Reporting Under Fire

A central contributor to the Keys: a Troubled Inheritance podcast the Balfour Project is running (series two picks up in spring, 2024) is Sami Abu Salem. He is the Gazan journalist who contributes the Palestinian side of the story to Mike Joseph‘s journal of his Jewish family’s journey from Nazi persecution to Palestine, Gaza  and the Nakba. Sami’s parents…

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56 UK parliamentarians call for UK Government to ban violent Israeli settlers and those who incite them from entry to the UK

A letter, co-drafted by the Balfour Project and CAABU, to David Cameron and James Cleverly MP. Rt Hon Lord Cameron, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development AffairsRt Hon James Cleverly MP, Secretary of State for the Home Department Dear Secretaries of State, Ban violent Israeli settlers and those who incite them from entry into the…

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‘A mass assassination factory’: Inside Israel’s calculated bombing of Gaza

Permissive airstrikes on non-military targets and the use of an artificial intelligence system have enabled the Israeli army to carry out its deadliest war on Gaza, a +972 and Local Call investigation reveals. by Yuval Abraham 30th November, 2023 The Israeli army’s expanded authorisation for bombing non-military targets, the loosening of constraints regarding expected civilian…

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‘We Need a Ceasefire Now!’ Sir Vincent Fean on Deep Dive Palestine Podcast

Mark Seddon: Today British Parliamentarians wrote to PM Rishi Sunak calling for a ceasefire. What did the letter say? Sir Vincent Fean: The letter is signed by around about 120 members of Parliament in both houses: Peers and members of the House of Commons. It was the initiative of Baroness Shas Sheehan, Liberal Democrat. I’ll…

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Some leaders are more concerned about Gaza’s future than ending war now

Sir Vincent Fean, Balfour Project Trustee, on Al Jazeera Inside Story, 9 November 2023 Britain in Palestine 1917-1948 Film Palestinians live moment to moment as Israel’s bombardment continues. Life in Gaza is dominated by fears of Israeli attacks, finding somewhere safe, worrying about food, water, medicine and whether loved ones are still alive. In the…

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The politics of water in Israel-Palestine: a discussion with James Fergusson, author of ‘In Search of the River Jordan’

Online webinar hosted on 21 November 2023 In Search of the River Jordan is the new book by award-winning writer and journalist James Fergusson. Travelling through Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, Fergusson describes how historic water resources such as the Jordan River and the Dead Sea have been diverted or depleted, and how the…

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Balfour Project evidence to the Commons Foreign Affairs Ctee on the viability of the two-state solution

In our statement of 13 October on war crimes in Israel and in Gaza, we mentioned that the Balfour Project charity has submitted evidence to the Commons Foreign Affairs Ctee inquiry into the UK’s engagement with the Middle East and N Africa. The specific question posed is “What is the viability of a two-state solution…

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The Balfour Project condemns Hamas atrocities and calls on Israel to desist from also committing War Crimes

The Balfour Project condemns Hamas’ act of terrorism of 7 October, including heinous murder and the taking of mass hostages in Israel. Securing their safe release must be a top priority. Those responsible for this outrage must be held to account. One war crime must not, however, be avenged by committing another. Nothing can justify…

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Anti-BDS legislation

Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill Volume 836: debated on Tuesday 20 February 2024 Download text https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2024-02-20/debates/1906FBFC-C909-4322-8F64-AFCD6C706E31/EconomicActivityOfPublicBodies(OverseasMatters)Bill Previous debate Second Reading Relevant document: 4th Report from the Constitution Committee. Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland Legislative Consent sought; King’s consent sought. Moved by Baroness Neville-Rolfe That the Bill be now read a second time.…

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The DOP, Oslo and 1993+: Archetype of a Failure

By Daniel Levy, 13 Sept 2023 September 13, 2023, marks the 30-year anniversary of the signing of the Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles (DOP) on the White House South Lawn. What seemed like an auspicious moment in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and indeed in moving beyond conflict, followed months of intense Norwegian- hosted back-channel…

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Dr Ralph Wilde Webinar: How Britain broke international law to stop Palestinian independence

28th September 2023 Watch Video Listen to Audio/Podcast The 29th of September marks the centenary of when the League of Nations ‘Mandate Agreement’ for Palestine entered into force in international law.  This legal instrument purported to put the commitment to establishing a Jewish homeland in Palestine made by Arthur Balfour in the eponymous Declaration of…

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Much Ado About What?

Evidence Submitted to House of Commons Committee on the Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Public Bill, 5 September 2023 With a host of other pressing matters, domestic and foreign, already on its plate, puzzlingly the Sunak government has chosen to pursue a murky piece of legislation ponderously entitled the Economic Activity of Public…

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