Category Archives: News

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 … Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading →

“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 … Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading →

Anti-Zionism as a Jewish Phenomenon Azmi Bishara General Director and Member of the Board of Directors of the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies. Dr. Bishara is a researcher and writer with numerous books and publications on political thought, … Continue reading →

By Bambos Charalambous, Shadow Minister for the Middle East When it comes to the question of achieving peace in the Middle East, Labour is clear: in government, we would immediately recognise the state of Palestine. We want to see a … Continue reading →

UK Government at UN Security Council Statement by Ambassador James Kariuki at the UN Security Council briefing on the situation in the Middle East (delivered on May 26, 2022) Sadly, the world’s attention has been drawn repeatedly to the fragile … Continue reading →

Holy Land Coordination 2022 Final Communiqué ‘If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand wither’Psalm 137:5 Recalling the Balfour Project statement: “Israel/Palestine: Equal Rights for lasting Peace” at our 2020 conference “Jerusalem: from past divisions to a shared future?”, … Continue reading →

By Sara Husseini and Mazen Masri, from Middle East Eye Without conditionality on human rights or a mechanism for accountability, how can an enhanced trading relationship be understood by Israel as anything other than support for its violations and war … Continue reading →

Published by Ali Abunimah on Electronic Intifada, 2 May 2022. Emmanuel Macron’s war against campaigners for Palestinian rights suffered another big setback on Friday. The Conseil d’Etat, which acts as France’s supreme court ruling on government actions, suspended the president’s … Continue reading →

Recalling our Balfour Project conference on Jerusalem in October 2020… (You can read the Balfour Project Jerusalem statement here.) The World Council of Churches (WCC) has launched this Easter initiative: “The WCC Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Easter seeks … Continue reading →

On 1 February Amnesty International published an important report on Israel/Palestine. Here is the link to the text of the report, and here the link to Amnesty’s response to questions.  Here is a Haaretz commentary on Israeli Government handling of … Continue reading →

By Anshell Pfeffer in Haaretz on 1Feb 2022. This is the third such report in a year to label Israel an apartheid state, but Jerusalem has only succeeded in generating greater interest in Amnesty’s accusations. We may have to wait … Continue reading →

Editorial published in The Guardian on 6 February 2022. The continuing subjugation of Palestinians erodes the country’s stature internationally and damages its democracy Ehud Barak, Israel’s then defence minister and the country’s most decorated soldier, warned in 2010 that “as … Continue reading →

By Avi Shlaim. This article is reprinted from Middle East Eye, January, 2022. Boris Johnson once described the Balfour Declaration as ‘tragically incoherent’. With Israel now explicitly saying it will never negotiate peace, the UK must rethink its Palestine policy … Continue reading →

Israeli fighters at the 1948 battle in Tantura, a coastal village, finally come clean about the mass killing of Arabs that took place after the Palestinians’ surrender.  By Adam Raz (this article appeared in the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz on … Continue reading →

This is a reprint of an editorial in the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz from January 24, 2022. The renewed discussion of the capture of Tantura during the War of Independence is aimed at correcting a historic injustice for which the … Continue reading →

The UNWRA appeal is asking for an additional $87.5 million for cash assistance, hospital expenses and other needs for Palestinian refugees amid Lebanon’s economic collapse. Click here to read the full article in Haaretz. Click here to register for our … Continue reading →

Haaretz Editorial published on Dec. 12, 2021 Soldiers of the Israeli army committed war crimes during the War of Independence. Chief among them were massacres in Palestinian villages that were captured in the decisive battles in the lowland plain between … Continue reading →

After their obituary on Archbishop Tutu which did not mention his fight for justice for Palestinians, and moderating out posts highlighting this, the Guardian  then published When Desmond Tutu stood up for the rights of Palestinians, he could not be … Continue reading →

By Colin Smith, December 10, 2021 (This article appears in the current issue of Prospect). On 11th December 1917, celebratory peals in London and the Vatican announced Britain’s first significant land victory in the First World War. But though the … Continue reading →

By John Dugard The apartheid regime of South Africa initially sought to discredit its political opponents by labelling them “communists”. When the international community realized that the term was abused the regime resorted to labelling its opponents “terrorists”. This proved … Continue reading →

A motion to label the entire Hamas movement as ‘terrorists’ is an attempt to score political points at the cost of a peacemaking strategy for Israel-Palestine. By Hugh Lovatt on +972, November 25, 2021 Following a brief debate, the British House of … Continue reading →

Crispin Blunt said he did not think the measure would ‘draw away violence’. By Martina Bet. Published in the Evening Standard, 25 November 2021. A ban on the Palestinian group Hamas will have a “terrible chilling effect” in the Israeli … Continue reading →

By Zena Agha, writing for The New York Times On Oct. 19, the Israeli Ministry of Defence singled out six of the most prominent Palestinian human rights and civil society organizations, using secret, and thus far insufficient, evidence to accuse them of being … Continue reading →

By John Dugard, writing for Mondoweiss, Nov 16, 2021. Even the apartheid regime in South Africa never outlawed human rights defenders in the manner that Israel just did when it declared six Palestinian organizations to be “terrorist organizations. Israel has … Continue reading →