Peace with justice, security and equal rights for Palestinians and Israelis

Acknowledging Britain’s historic and continuing responsibilities, we work through education and advocacy to advance equal rights for Palestinians and Israelis​

Britain in Palestine 1917-1948 investigates the contradictory promises and actions which defined British Mandatory rule in Palestine and laid the groundwork for the Nakba (the catastrophe) and the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.

Gaza: a resounding NO to Trump

The Balfour Project believes Britain must oppose the President’s ethnic cleansing proposals by immediately recognising a Palestinian State and by giving its full and immediate support to–and implementing–the findings of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. MORE

Defying international law, Israel moves to abolish the Palestinians’ right of return to their homeland, as well as endanger their survival in the Occupied Territories, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Britain must act, says the Balfour Project. MORE

Former Israeli ambassador Alon Liel argues that British recognition of a Palestinian state is absolutely crucial, and would force Israel’s hand. Nations should not, he says, live in fear of Israel. MORE

The Balfour Project supports the recommendations of Parliament’s International Development Committee to the UK Government, which include a central role for UNRWA in a massive aid programme for Gaza, and addressing allegations that Israel has used starvation as a weapon of war and employed “forcible transfer” on the West Bank. MORE

Sir Vincent Fean, former UK Consul-General in Jerusalem and ex-Chair of the Balfour Project, tells BBC News (16 Jan 2025) that the UN Relief and Works Agency must take the lead in any aid and reconstruction programme for Gaza, and there must, as an outcome of this deadly period and the long denial of Palestinian rights, be self-determination and equal rights for the Palestinian people. MORE

Executive Director for BP

The Balfour Project is delighted to announce the appointment of Brian Brivati as its first Executive Director as of today, 15 January 2025. This appointment marks an important step forward in the growth of the charity as an effective British advocate for peace with justice and equality for Palestinians and Israelis alike. MORE

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, head of Gaza’s now wrecked Kamal Adwan Hospital, is seen here, on 27 Dec 2024, walking towards the Israeli tanks and army who carried out the destruction. Moments later he was abducted by Israeli soldiers and incarcerated in a military prison where, six weeks later, he remains.  MORE

Labour's incoherent approach to Gaza

Imran Mulla finds that the UK Government is facing both ways in its dealings with Israel: trying to appear to uphold international law while remaining its close and supportive ally. MORE

CONFERENCE: The Rule of Law

The route to a better future for Palestinians and Israelis.

Tickets now available for online and in-person attendance.

Afternoon of Thursday 8th May 2025.

How the Balfour Project was born

In her new book, Monica Spooner, a co-founder of the Project with her husband Roger, tells the moving, extraordinary story of how the charity grew out of a chance reading of a vital historical text on a visit to the Middle East. Her book is reviewed by BP Trustee Frances Guy.

BP urges full UK response to Amnesty 'genocide' report

Amnesty International has found that Israel has committed and is committing genocide in Gaza. The Balfour Project calls on the UK Government to respond substantially to this report, publish its own findings on genocide in Gaza, suspend all arms sales to Israel, and immediately recognise the state of Palestine. MORE    

The Balfour Project welcomes the British Government’s commitment to comply with international law following the International Criminal Court’s issuance of arrest warrants for the Israel Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the former Israel Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant. The warrants cite the two men as being responsible for war crimes against the civilians of the Gaza Strip.  MORE

Britain's 19th Century Zionists

Gabriel Polley reveals how 40 years before the Balfour Declaration British Zionists were eyeing up Palestine as a Jewish homeland. MORE

The Israeli writer and academic Menachem Klein sees the concept of Jewish supremacy replacing Israeli militarism, ushering in ever harsher measures against the Palestinians and a bid to overcome a new’ Axis of Evil’. MORE

Israel learned methods to suppress Palestinians from British forces

From reshaping land ownership through land laws in 1920 to the brutal suppression of the Arab revolt using administrative detention, house demolition, assassination, exile and collective punishment, Britain ensured there would be no Palestinian state and significantly shaped the region's history. More

Montagu's warnings about Zionism

It was a 'mischievous political creed,' the Secretary of State for India wrote to the 1917 War Cabinet, which would endanger the presence of the Jews in Britain---'Jewish Britons' rather than 'British Jews'---and drive the Palestinians out of their own country. More