Choose an area of interest
Sign up to our mailing list
Spread the word!
-
Recent Articles
- ‘Serious concerns’: UK education row as Israel-Palestine textbooks pulled
- Eugene Rogan – Neither Pro-Zionist nor Pro-Arab but Pro-Empire: A Re-assessment of British Policy in the Palestine Mandate
- Call by 55 former European leaders: Protect the Independence of the ICC
- A message to the PM
- Pearson caught in Middle East history textbook scandal
- BBC sparks outrage after removing content following pressure from pro-Israel lobby
News
Call by 55 former European leaders: Protect the Independence of the ICC
Written 31 May 2021′ We welcome the support that European leaders have expressed for the ICC and its unique mandate of advancing justice following war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Consistent support for the ICC and promotion of its … Read more here ➔
Posted in News
Comments Off on Call by 55 former European leaders: Protect the Independence of the ICC
A message to the PM
MPs send No.10 the Balfour Project call for the strict application of international law, including via the ICC, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Pearson caught in Middle East history textbook scandal
Pro-Israel bias and misrepresentation of the Israel/Palestine situation has been a feature of much of mainstream media for some years. Now GCSE textbooks, published by Pearson and Hodder, have come under intense attention from pro-Israel advocates. As a result, Hodder … Read more here ➔
Posted in Current Positions, News
Comments Off on Pearson caught in Middle East history textbook scandal
BBC sparks outrage after removing content following pressure from pro-Israel lobby
Published in the Middle East Monitor on 2 June 2021. The BBC has removed a series of educational videos about Palestine and the origins of the ongoing Israeli occupation and ethnic cleansing, following pressure from a pro-Israel lobbyist organisation, UK Lawyers for … Read more here ➔
Posted in News
Comments Off on BBC sparks outrage after removing content following pressure from pro-Israel lobby
Why Israeli progressives have started to talk about ‘apartheid’
By Michael Sfard, an Israeli human rights lawyer, in The Guardian, 3 June 2021. Michael Sfard was a keynote speaker at our conference entitled ‘Israel/Palestine: in search of the rule of law’ in May 2021 and his talk can be … Read more here ➔
Posted in News
Comments Off on Why Israeli progressives have started to talk about ‘apartheid’
Briefing to the 8782nd session of the Security Council, May 27, 2021
Posted May 31, 2021 by Rashid Khalidi in MR Online. The events of the last few weeks have provoked worldwide recognition of realities on the ground in Occupied Palestine, realities of systemic discrimination, of oppression, and of settler colonialism. People have responded to … Read more here ➔
Posted in Misc, News, Recognition
Comments Off on Briefing to the 8782nd session of the Security Council, May 27, 2021
Israel, Palestine, and Law
Balfour Project statement, 26 May 2021 Equal rights under the law are the foundation stone of all democracies. Israel views itself as a democracy. But many in Israel and around the world, including in Britain, were dismayed by the Knesset’s … Read more here ➔
Posted in Annexation, Balfour Project viewpoint, Britain's current role, Current Positions, News, Recognition
Comments Off on Israel, Palestine, and Law
Essays on Equality, Rights and Responsibilities
Posted in Annexation, Britain's current role, Current Positions, News, Recognition, USA, Zionism Debate
Comments Off on Essays on Equality, Rights and Responsibilities
Israel, Palestine and International Law
Sir Vincent Fean, Chair of the Balfour Project Trustees and former Consul-General in Jerusalem, and Professor Adam Sutcliffe, Professor of European History at King’s College, London, and member of the steering group, Independent Jewish Voices, have issued the following statement … Read more here ➔
Posted in Balfour Project viewpoint, News, Recognition
Comments Off on Israel, Palestine and International Law
Israeli-Palestinian peace relies on this essential truth being grasped
This piece, by John McHugo, a Balfour Project Trustee and head of its Fellowship Programme, was published by The Independent. As the dust settles on the latest Israel/Palestinian conflict, and the blood of innocents and perpetrators dries indifferently, the great fear is … Read more here ➔
Posted in Britain's current role, News
Comments Off on Israeli-Palestinian peace relies on this essential truth being grasped
Israel-Palestine: in search of the rule of law by Sir Vincent Fean in the Arab Digest
Written by Sir Vincent Fean for the Arab Digest Just when you think it can’t get any worse – it does. Déjà vu, only worse. It is the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, as I used to describe it in my time as … Read more here ➔
Posted in Balfour Project viewpoint, Britain's current role, News
Comments Off on Israel-Palestine: in search of the rule of law by Sir Vincent Fean in the Arab Digest
Bishop Christopher Chessun, Balfour Project Patron, in Jerusalem
Posted in Balfour Project viewpoint, News
Comments Off on Bishop Christopher Chessun, Balfour Project Patron, in Jerusalem
Shameless: Ministers are now attacking our public authorities for respecting human rights in Israel and Palestine
By Richard Burden There was a time when some politicians would argue that human rights were nothing to do with business; that it was perfectly legitimate for UK companies to profit from trade with regimes overseas however badly those regimes … Read more here ➔
Posted in Balfour Project viewpoint, News
Comments Off on Shameless: Ministers are now attacking our public authorities for respecting human rights in Israel and Palestine
Sir Vincent Fean on Sky News, 14 May 2021
Posted in Balfour Project viewpoint, Current Positions, News, Recognition, Recordings
Comments Off on Sir Vincent Fean on Sky News, 14 May 2021
Sir Vincent Fean, Chair of Balfour Project, on BBC, 12 May 2021
Posted in Balfour Project viewpoint, Britain's current role, News, Recognition, Recordings
Comments Off on Sir Vincent Fean, Chair of Balfour Project, on BBC, 12 May 2021
Instagram Censoring
I have received reports that some Instagram users in Jerusalem are facing censorship, presumably by Instagram itself, which is owned by Facebook. Palestinians have reported that recently, when they write Instagram messages about the wave of evictions of Palestinian families … Read more here ➔
Posted in News
Comments Off on Instagram Censoring
UK-European statement condemns Israeli settlements, East Jerusalem evictions
The Governments of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK issued this statement on Israeli settlements on May 6. We urge the Government of Israel to reverse its decision to advance the construction of 540 settlement units in the Har … Read more here ➔
Posted in Annexation, Britain's current role, Current Positions, News
Comments Off on UK-European statement condemns Israeli settlements, East Jerusalem evictions
UK backs Palestinian elections, including in Jerusalem, at UN Security Council
Excerpt of Statement by British Ambassador Jonathan Allen at the Security Council briefing on the Middle East on 23 April 2021 Mr President, following elections held in Israel on 24 March, we look forward to working with a new Israeli … Read more here ➔
Posted in Current Positions, News, Recognition
Comments Off on UK backs Palestinian elections, including in Jerusalem, at UN Security Council
Prime Minister Boris Johnson Confirms UK Opposition to ICC Investigation into war crimes in Palestine
The Balfour Project read with sadness and dismay the concluding words in the Prime Minister’s letter to the Conservative Friends of Israel of 9 April 2021. These words assert that “Palestine is not a sovereign State” and that the investigation … Read more here ➔
Posted in Britain's current role, Current Positions, Letters, News
Comments Off on Prime Minister Boris Johnson Confirms UK Opposition to ICC Investigation into war crimes in Palestine
‘Biased changes’ in GCSE textbooks on Middle East history
A group of academics, the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine, has uncovered what it describes as bias that has been introduced into British GCSE textbooks on Middle East history. BRICUP found hundreds of changes in two books published … Read more here ➔
Posted in News
Comments Off on ‘Biased changes’ in GCSE textbooks on Middle East history
The Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism
The Balfour Project opposes all forms of racism, bigotry and discrimination, including antisemitism. We commend the recent Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism; one year in the making, by international scholars in antisemitism and related fields from Europe, the USA, Canada and … Read more here ➔
Posted in Current Positions, News, Zionism Debate
Comments Off on The Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism
Palestinian peace must rest on international law
By Mary Robinson, published in The Financial Times on 15 March 2021. ICC decision to investigate Hamas and Israel has implications for both sides. BP Trustee, author and international lawyer John McHugo writes: For far too long, political leaders have shied … Read more here ➔
Posted in Annexation, News, Recognition
Comments Off on Palestinian peace must rest on international law
Working towards a two-state solution
Introduction to UK Government statement to the UN Security Council of 26 February 2021 The latest statement by the UK to the UN Security Council, at its regular meeting on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict on 26 February, deserves attention – for … Read more here ➔
Posted in Current Positions, News
Comments Off on Working towards a two-state solution
Requesting the UK government’s urgent intervention against the dispossession and forcible transfer of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, East Jerusalem
Letter from Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights to Rt Hon James Cleverly MP, Minister of State fo rthe Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Posted in News
Comments Off on Requesting the UK government’s urgent intervention against the dispossession and forcible transfer of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, East Jerusalem
The British Government position on Jerusalem
The British Government has now replied to the six recommendations in the Balfour Project statement “Israel-Palestine: equal rights for a lasting peace” which concluded our 27 October conference on Jerusalem. We are indebted to our patron, Rt Revd John Pritchard, … Read more here ➔
Posted in Annexation, Britain's current role, Current Positions, Letters, News
Comments Off on The British Government position on Jerusalem
Over 80 UK parliamentarians call on Israel to stop the dispossession of Palestinian families in East Jerusalem, or face diplomatic consequences
Published by CAABU, 9 February 2021. Over 80 British parliamentarians representing all parties, in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, wrote in a letter to the British Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab that the British government must … Read more here ➔
Posted in Annexation, News
Comments Off on Over 80 UK parliamentarians call on Israel to stop the dispossession of Palestinian families in East Jerusalem, or face diplomatic consequences
Church leaders call on Israel to give vaccine access to Palestinians in West Bank/Gaza
Two distinguished patrons of the Balfour Project signed the communique below from the Holy Land Coordination (HLC):Rt Revd Declan Lang, Catholic Bishop of Clifton and Chair of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference Dept. of International Affairs andRt Revd Christopher Chessun, Anglican … Read more here ➔
Posted in Current Positions, News
Comments Off on Church leaders call on Israel to give vaccine access to Palestinians in West Bank/Gaza
We are Israel’s largest human rights group – and we are calling this apartheid
By Hagai El-Ad, published in The Guardian, 12 Jan, 2021 The systematic promotion of the supremacy of one group of people over another is deeply immoral and must end One cannot live a single day in Israel-Palestine without the sense … Read more here ➔
Posted in Annexation, News
Comments Off on We are Israel’s largest human rights group – and we are calling this apartheid
Indonesia is no saviour: against normalisation with Israel
By Gilang Al Ghifari Lukman, published on New Mandala on 11 JAN, 2021 Recent reports of potential normalisation between Indonesia and Israel have received varied reactions in the respective countries. In his three-month marathon toward normalization, U.S. President Donald Trump … Read more here ➔
Posted in News, Recognition
Comments Off on Indonesia is no saviour: against normalisation with Israel
Seeking cooperation in order to achieve a two-state solution – Ambassador Barbara Woodward
Statement by Ambassador Barbara Woodward at the Security Council briefing on the situation in the Middle East. Published 21 December 2020 Thank you, Mr President, and thank you to Special Coordinator Mladenov for his briefing. As others have done, I’d … Read more here ➔
Posted in Britain's current role, News, Recognition
Comments Off on Seeking cooperation in order to achieve a two-state solution – Ambassador Barbara Woodward
How Israel’s Settlement-Separation Roads Speed Towards One State
The rapid integration of the settlers and their roads with pre-1967 Israel means a workable two-state solution becomes more impossible by the minute. By Ahmad Al-Bazz and Edo Konrad, published on +972 on December 31, 2020. How Israel’s road projects are ensuring apartheid is … Read more here ➔
Posted in Annexation, News
Comments Off on How Israel’s Settlement-Separation Roads Speed Towards One State
A scion of Zionist aristocracy wants to quit the Jewish people. Will Israel let him?
Why Avraham Burg, who has served as Knesset speaker, interim president and head of the Jewish Agency, is asking Israel to annul his registration as a Jew Ravit Hecht | Jan. 2, 2021 (From Haaretz) Avraham Burg has been a … Read more here ➔
Posted in News
Comments Off on A scion of Zionist aristocracy wants to quit the Jewish people. Will Israel let him?
Former Jerusalem archbishop: How long will Catholics keep ignoring the suffering of Palestinians?
By Michel Sabbah on 22 December 2020. Patriarch Emeritus Michel Sabbah served as the archbishop and Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from 1987 to 2008, the first native Palestinian to hold the office for centuries. He is a co-author of the … Read more here ➔
Posted in Annexation, News, Recognition, USA
Comments Off on Former Jerusalem archbishop: How long will Catholics keep ignoring the suffering of Palestinians?
The lost potential of Jenin
By Ahmad Al-Bazz and Sarah Abu Alrob for The Electronic Intifada, 23 October 2020. In the northern West Bank city of Jenin, there was once an airfield, a train station, three cinemas and two major roads connecting the town with the neighboring cities … Read more here ➔
Posted in News
Comments Off on The lost potential of Jenin
Palestinians Condemn British Colonialism for their Plight
In a rare and outspoken item for British broadcasting media on Monday night (Dec.4, 2020}, Channel 4 news tackled the question of British colonialism and its responsibility since 1917 for the dispossession of the Palestinian people and their mass expulsion … Read more here ➔
Posted in News
Comments Off on Palestinians Condemn British Colonialism for their Plight
Souvenir Booklet from our Jerusalem Conference 2020
Posted in Balfour Project viewpoint, Britain's current role, Current Positions, News, Past
Comments Off on Souvenir Booklet from our Jerusalem Conference 2020
Policy Working Group’s Call For Global Recognition of the State of Palestine
Published November 29, 2020 Today, as the world marks the anniversary of the UN General Assembly’s adoption ofResolution 181, which calls for the establishment of two states – one Jewish and one Arab —on the territory that constituted Mandatory Palestine, … Read more here ➔
Posted in News, Recognition
Comments Off on Policy Working Group’s Call For Global Recognition of the State of Palestine
Why the World Should Recognize Palestine Now’
By Susie Becher, published in Times of Israel on Nov 27, 2020. I recently came across an article by the renowned Israeli author A.B. Yehoshua explaining his call for recognition of the State of Palestine back in 2014. One of … Read more here ➔
Posted in News, Recognition
Comments Off on Why the World Should Recognize Palestine Now’
ONE STATE: the Most Natural Outcome Of Unjust Circumstances
This is an except from an interview with the U.S.-based Palestinian writer, journalist and editor (of Palestine Chronicle), Ramzy Baroud, by Linda Ramsdens, director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolition. It appears in ICAHD’s November, 2020, newsletter, and is … Read more here ➔
Posted in News, Recognition
Comments Off on ONE STATE: the Most Natural Outcome Of Unjust Circumstances
COPY_ Israel – Palestine: Equal Rights for lasting Peace #2
Click here to read the British Governmanet’s position on Jerusalem. Julie Elliott MP, with seven other signatories of the Balfour Project statement ‘Israel-Palestine: Equal Rights for lasting Peace’, has conveyed its five requests to the Prime Minister and the Foreign … Read more here ➔
Posted in Current Positions, Misc, News
Comments Off on COPY_ Israel – Palestine: Equal Rights for lasting Peace #2
Statement for Conference on Jerusalem
Israel/Palestine: Equal Rights for lasting Peace We acknowledge Britain’s historic responsibilities for inequality and discrimination in Jerusalem and across the Holy Land. They stem from the last century, through the Balfour Declaration and the British Mandate for Palestine, with consequences … Read more here ➔
Posted in Current Positions, Misc, News
Comments Off on Statement for Conference on Jerusalem
Israel Eases Path to Citizenship for 20,000 East Jerusalem Palestinians
By Nir Hasson, Nov 25, 2020 from Haaretz, the Israel daily newspaper. Around 20,000 young Palestinians will be eligible to expedite their requests for Israeli citizenship after a court forced the Interior Ministry to publish guidelines for the scheme on Monday. … Read more here ➔
Posted in Annexation, News
Comments Off on Israel Eases Path to Citizenship for 20,000 East Jerusalem Palestinians
Time to recognise the state of Palestine
By Richard Burden, October 20, 2020 This week marks six years since the House of Commons voted, by 274 to 12, for Britain to recognise the State of Palestine alongside Israel. It was the first time in decades that Parliament … Read more here ➔
Posted in News, Recognition
Comments Off on Time to recognise the state of Palestine
Why Does Annexation Look Like a Problem and Not an Opportunity?
By Ian S. Lustick from Logos, a journal of modern society and culture. For more than forty years experts and politicians have warned of Israel’s creeping de facto annexation of the West Bank. In 1982 Meron Benvenisti and Thomas Friedman … Read more here ➔
Posted in Annexation, News
Comments Off on Why Does Annexation Look Like a Problem and Not an Opportunity?
Illusions and Delusions about Peace in the Middle East
A commentary by Andrew Whitley, with introduction by Sir Vincent Fean I commend to you Andrew Whitley’s thoughtful analysis, below, of current British Government policy on the Israel/Palestine conflict. Andrew asks if our Foreign Secretary’s recent visit signals sustained Government … Read more here ➔
Posted in Balfour Project viewpoint, News
Comments Off on Illusions and Delusions about Peace in the Middle East
Labour MP Stephen Kinnock initiated debate on the settlement and annexation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories
Thursday 24 September 2020 Click here to view video. 3.13 pm Stephen Kinnock (Aberavon) (Lab)I beg to move, That this House has considered settlement and annexation of the Occupied Palestinian territories. This country has a unique place in history and … Read more here ➔
Posted in Annexation, Britain's current role, Current Positions, News
Comments Off on Labour MP Stephen Kinnock initiated debate on the settlement and annexation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories
Palestinian Christian leaders criticise Israel-UAE agreement
“Real peace begins in Palestine” An Open Letter to The Most Reverend David Malloy, Bishop of Rockford, Illinois, ChairUnited States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on International Justice and Peace They have treated the wound of my people carelessly, saying, “Peace, peace,” … Read more here ➔
Palestinian clergy: ‘Annexation could be the final straw for a viable Christian presence in Palestine’
Published by Mondoweiss on 20 August 2020 by Jeff Wright “Annexation could be the final straw when it comes to a viable Christian presence in Palestine,” declare pastors representing four of the Holy Land’s historic denominations. “For Palestine, Bethlehem and … Read more here ➔
Posted in Annexation, Current Positions, News
Comments Off on Palestinian clergy: ‘Annexation could be the final straw for a viable Christian presence in Palestine’
Palestine: 1947 escape from British prison exposed as inside job
Published in The Guardian, 30 Aug 2020 by Oliver Holmes, Jerusalem Correspondent Exclusive: architect leaked plans to Jewish militants leading to raid seen as signifying London’s declining control The family of a decorated British civil servant who built a notorious … Read more here ➔
Posted in News, Post-Mandate Period
Comments Off on Palestine: 1947 escape from British prison exposed as inside job