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Recent Articles
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- Amnesty International affirms Israel has committed genocide in Gaza: the UK Government must respond
- Israel has created a nightmare scenario for itself. The clock is ticking
- A terrible weariness of the life of the genocide
- A war like no other: challenge and change in reporting Gaza
- Britain’s colonial legacy is still felt in Palestine today
- The UK is right to declare respect for ICC arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant
- Trump has already emboldened Israel’s far-right. Labour must act
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- Why Didn’t I Know? Britain’s Legacy in Palestine by Monica Spooner
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Category Archives: Mandate Period
The UN experience in Gaza
By Hamilton Fish Armstrong, Editor of Foreign Affairs Published on July 1, 1957 It would be wrong to call the United Nations experiment in administering the Gaza Strip a failure; the experiment was never made. Some preparations for it were … Continue reading
Posted in Balfour Declaration, Mandate Period, Post-Mandate Period
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Israel learned methods to suppress Palestinians from British forces
By Roger Spooner Britain first promised Palestine to the Arabs in 1915 and then in 1917 to the global Jewish community. In 1920 Britain set up the first civil administration of Palestine led by a Jewish Zionist High Commissioner and … Continue reading
Posted in Mandate Period, News
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Britain’s Policy of Deceit
By Peter Shambrook During WWI, successive British governments first promised Palestine to the Arabs; two years later the British cabinet promised the same region to the global Jewish community. Post-WWI, British governments steadfastly denied that Palestine had been promised to … Continue reading
Posted in Balfour Declaration, Balfour Project viewpoint, Book Reviews, Contradictory Promises, Historical, Mandate Period, McMahon-Hussein Correspondence
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One on One: Britain, Palestine and a history of broken promises
Video published by The Middle East Eye on 25 September 2023. The United Kingdom played a pivotal role in the dispossession of the Palestinian people and the Zionist takeover of historical Palestine, says Middle Eastern historian Peter Shambrook. Speaking with … Continue reading
Posted in Mandate Period, News
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The Report of the Haycraft Commission of Inquiry, 1921
By Mike Scott-Baumann The Commission was appointed by Sir Herbert Samuel, the High Commissioner for Palestine, to inquire into, and report on, the “disturbances” in Jaffa and elsewhere in early May 1921. It was headed by Sir Thomas Haycraft, the Chief Justice … Continue reading
Posted in Historical, Key Documents, Mandate Period
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Britain, Israel and Jordan in the 1948 war
Introduction by Avi Shlaim for the Balfour Project to his paper in The Journal of Palestine Studies By Avi Shlaim From 1920 to 1948 Britain held the mandate over Palestine. From the beginning, Britain pursued a pro-Zionist policy which facilitated … Continue reading
Posted in Historical, Mandate Period, Nakba
Tagged 1948, Aneurin Bevin, King Abdullah
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BALFOUR IN THE LEVANT, SPRING 1925. Orates in Jerusalem, Tours Palestine, Flees Syria
By William M. Mathew. A. INTRODUCTION: A JEWISH ITINERARY B. NEW YORK TIMES REPORTS – PALESTINE STRIKE ON BALFOUR STARTS TOMORROW. CESSATION OF WORK TO BEGIN ON HIS ARRIVAL (24 March 1925) STRIKE AS BALFOUR REACHES PALESTINE. JERUSALEM SHOPS SHUT. … Continue reading
Posted in Historical, Mandate Period
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Lord Cope – Speech to British Palestine Police Association Centenary Dinner
Speech given at Middle Temple Hall, 2 July 2021 It is great to be here to celebrate the centenary of the Palestine Police so energetically organised by Ralph Cairns. I wish the BPPA many happy returns. The Crusader Kingdom of … Continue reading
Posted in Historical, Mandate Period
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Eugene Rogan – Neither Pro-Zionist nor Pro-Arab but Pro-Empire: A Re-assessment 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 … Continue reading
Posted in Contradictory Promises, Historical, Mandate Period, Past, Peel Commission Report 1937, Recordings
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Raja Shehadeh on Britain and Palestine, a family history
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 … Continue reading
Posted in Mandate Period, Past, Recordings
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John McHugo on Why Britain has a Special Responsibility to the Palestinian People Today
A talk given online on 30th June 2020. John McHugo is a trustee of the Balfour Project and a board member of CAABU, The Council for Arab British Understanding. This paper is the edited text of a Balfour Project talk … Continue reading
Posted in Britain's current role, Mandate Period, Past
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The Forgotten History of the Jewish, Anti-Zionist Left
An interview with Banjamin Balthaser, published on Jacobin The roots of modern Zionism are in colonialism. This was the foundation of the Jewish left’s opposition to Zionism in the 1930s and ’40s, on the grounds that it is a form … Continue reading
Posted in Historical, Mandate Period, News, Zionism Debate
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The best book on the Balfour Declaration is…
Book Review: Palestine the Reality by J.M.N. Jeffries By John McHugo Many people trying to get to grips with the Israel/Palestine conflict begin with the First World War and the contradictory promises Britain made at that time. These were pledges … Continue reading
Posted in Balfour Declaration, Book Reviews, Mandate Period, McMahon-Hussein Correspondence, Pre-Balfour Declaration
Tagged Anglo-French Declaration, Balfour Declaration, McMahon Hussain, Palestine Mandate, Sykes Picot
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By recognising Palestine, Britain can help right the wrongs of the Balfour declaration
By Avi Shlaim This is the full text of a truncated version of Avi Shlaim’s article in The Guardian. The Guardian had edited out the references to Winston Churchill and the Israeli Policy Working Group. The wave of anti-racist protest … Continue reading
Posted in Balfour Declaration, Historical, Mandate Period, News, Post-Mandate Period, Recognition
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The Hundred Years’ War On Palestine A history of settler colonial conquest and resistance
By Rashid Khalidi Profile Books £25.00 Book review Review by Tim Llewellyn In the midst of Jerusalem’s Old City, on the cusp of the Muslim and Jewish quarters, reposes the Khalidi family library, an archive of scriptures, literature and letters … Continue reading
Posted in Balfour Declaration, Book Reviews, Mandate Period, Post-Mandate Period, Pre-Balfour Declaration, Resources, Zionism Debate
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Book Review: The Balfour Declaration – Empire, the Mandate and Resistance in Palestine by Bernard Regan
by John McHugo In The Balfour Declaration: Empire, The Mandate and Resistance in Palestine, Bernard Regan shows us what Britain did (and what Britain thought it was doing) by issuing the Balfour Declaration, by incorporating it into the League of … Continue reading
Posted in Balfour Declaration, Book Reviews, Mandate Period, McMahon-Hussein Correspondence, Pre-Balfour Declaration, Zionism Debate
Tagged Balfour Declaration, Mandate
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Britain in Palestine Exhibition
We have PDF copies of these panels at A1 size. We also have printed copies mounted on polystyrene and suitable for use in an exhibition. If you would like to set up an exhibition and hire these mounted panels or … Continue reading
Posted in Mandate Period, Pre-Balfour Declaration, Resources
Tagged Britain in Palestine, Timeline
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Book Review: Legacy of Empire – Britain, Zionism and the Creation of Israel by Gardner Thompson
By Tim Llewellyn, Oct 10th 2019 “…[T]he Mandate has proved to be unworkable in practice…[and] the obligations undertaken by the two communities in Palestine have been shown to be irreconcilable.” (Ernest Bevin, British Foreign Secretary, in the House of Commons … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews, Mandate Period, Pre-Balfour Declaration, Zionism Debate
Tagged Balfour Declaration, British Mandate
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Impressions of Palestine, 1 April 1946: Pessimist Perspectives
Edit Post Private Memo by Evan M. Wilson (U.S. State Department) William M. Mathew Evan M. Wilson (1910-84), graduate of Haverford College and Oxford University, was in the employ of the U.S. State Department between 1937 and 1961, serving as … Continue reading
Posted in Mandate Period
Tagged 1946, Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry, Palestine Mandate
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Book Review: Britain’s Pacification of Palestine – The British Army, the Colonial State, and the Arab Revolt, 1936–9 by Matthew Hughes
by Ian Black The 1936–9 Arab Revolt against British rule in Palestine, and its suppression by the British army, was a precursor to the devastating war against the nascent Israeli state that the Palestinians lost a decade later. Matthew Hughes‘s extensively researched new study … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews, Mandate Period, Zionism Debate
Tagged Arab Revolt, Book review, British Army
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Britain’s historic responsibility to the people of Palestine, Gaza and Israel
John McHugo Edited text of speech for the Balfour Project event The Tragedy of Gaza in Edinburgh 17 March 2018 My role is to explain why Britain carries a historic responsibility to the people of Palestine generally, to the people … Continue reading
Posted in Balfour Project viewpoint, Historical, Mandate Period, Pre-Balfour Declaration, Zionism Debate
Tagged Article 22, Balfour Declaration, British Mandate, Haycraft Comminssion, Palestine Mandate
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U.S. Recognition of Israel, 14 May 1948. Part III: ‘A Near-Run Thing’
William M. Mathew See also Part I and Part II A. GEORGE MARSHALL: ‘A NEAR-RUN THING’. Truman’s fundamental position was straightforward – at least retrospectively. As President, he was in charge. In ‘differences of opinion between the White House and … Continue reading
Posted in Historical, Mandate Period, Post-Mandate Period, USA
Tagged 1948, Marshall, Recognition of Israel, Roosevelt, Truman, US
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U.S. Recognition of Israel, 14 May 1948. Part II: Truman’s Belated Support
William M. Mathew Part I: U.S. Recognition of Israel, 14 May 1948: Roosevelt, Truman, Marshall: A Sequence of Contingencies Part III: U.S. Recognition of Israel, 14 May 1948: ‘A Near-Run Thing’ The obvious question presents itself: given the near-universal presidential … Continue reading
Posted in Historical, Mandate Period, Nakba, USA
Tagged 1948, Marshall, Recognition of Israel, Roosevelt, Truman, USA
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U.S. Recognition of Israel, 14 May 1948. Part I: Roosevelt, Truman, Marshall: A Sequence of Contingencies
Part I: Uncertainties See also Part II: U.S. Recognition of Israel, 14 May 1948: Truman’s Belated Support Part III: U.S. Recognition of Israel, 14 May 1948: ‘A Near-Run Thing’ William M. Mathew Abstract Zionism`s two most notable international successes in … Continue reading
Posted in Mandate Period, Zionism Debate
Tagged 1948, Israel, Marshall, Roosevelt, Truman, Zionism
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Conferences in Glasgow and Edinburgh
March 14th and 17th 2019 On March 14th at 300 people at Glasgow University heard former British and Israeli diplomats and distinguished journalists speak on ‘The news from Gaza: dispelling myths and telling the truth’. The following Sunday at Edinburgh University … Continue reading
Posted in Mandate Period, Past, Pre-Balfour Declaration
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Book Review: The Arab Awakening by George Antonius
The Balfour Project is most grateful to the Times Literary Supplement for allowing us to reprint this review of The Arab Awakening, by George Antonius, the review by Harry Pirie-Gordon being published on November 26, 1938. Readers might also like … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews, Mandate Period, McMahon-Hussein Correspondence
Tagged Antonious, Arabs, Hussein Ibn Ali, McMahon Hussain, Palestine Mandate, Turks
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Palestine 1948: Britain Surrenders to Terror
Peter Shambrook Being British, the 500-year-old British Empire story fills me with a mixture of pride – and pain and shame. Regarding the events of 1948, locating truth is extremely challenging, given the irreconcilable national narratives. So I come at … Continue reading
Posted in Balfour Declaration, Mandate Period, Pre-Balfour Declaration
Tagged Balfour, Palestine Mandate
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Palestine and Britain: forgotten legacy of World War I that devastated the Middle East
By James Rodgers Rare photograph of the formal transfer of Jerusalem to British rule. For those of us of an age to have known only peace in Western Europe,the centenary of the end of World War I is a an … Continue reading
Posted in Balfour Declaration, Mandate Period
Tagged 1918, Balfour Declaration, British Mandate, Palestine
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Britain Palestine Israel – 70 years on
Donate A 20-page booklet is now available containing the speeches at the conference of the Balfour Project in partnership with King’s College London (see below). The booklet also includes the Balfour Centenary Declaration, which has now been signed by 141 … Continue reading
Posted in Balfour Declaration, Mandate Period, Past, Post-Mandate Period, Pre-Balfour Declaration
Tagged 1922, 1948, British Mandate, Israel, League of Nations, nakba, Palestine, Palestine Mandate, War of independence
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Evangelicals, the Balfour Declaration and Zionism
By Roger Spooner When talking about the Balfour Declaration with a pastor from Bethlehem, he commented,’ the problems for the Palestinians didn’t start in 1917, they started in 1840′. Literal reading of the Bible which had developed in the 17th … Continue reading
Posted in Balfour Declaration, Christian Zionism, Current Positions, Evangelicals and Christian Zionism, Historical, Mandate Period, Pre-Balfour Declaration, Zionism Debate
Tagged 1840, 19th Century, Balfour, Balfour Declaration, Evangelicals, Lloyd George, restorationism, Shaftesbury, Zionism
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Prophet of Doom: E.T. Richmond, Palestine 1920-1924
John Richmond Ernest Richmond ETR was a an architect who spent many years in the Arab World and was invited in 1920 by Sir Herbert Samuel to join the Palestine administration. His son has written about some of his writings … Continue reading
Posted in Christian Zionism, Mandate Period, Zionism Debate
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Palestine 1917-2017: Reflections on a refugee’s story, my great-grandfather’s war diary and the legacy of Britain’s actions in Palestine.
Omah Amarah is 84 years old. From the amount of energy which sparks up as he gets started on his story you can sense his tale comes from the heart; this is no dry text book account of history we … Continue reading
Posted in Balfour Declaration, Mandate Period
Tagged 1917, 1948, Balfour Declaration, British Mandate, Palestine, Zionism
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The 1929 Palestine Riots – A Conflicted Jewish Historiography by William M Mathew
Mathew compares the work of two Jewish historians on the long-term effects of the inter-communal violence and harsh response by British forces which rocked Palestine in 1929. Where their accounts overlap Mathew explores their markedly different approaches.Violence in Palestine in … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews, Mandate Period, Zionism Debate
Tagged 1929, Balfour Declaration, British Mandate, Hope-Simpson, Palestine Mandate, Passfield, Shaw Commission
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Book Review: Part II The 1929 Palestine Riots – A Conflicted Jewish Historiography by William M Mathew
IV: Commissions & Reports; White Paper & Letter These, 1929-31 – from Shaw and Hope Simpson to Passfield and MacDonald – have been cited in the opening paragraph above. Hillel Cohen`s approach is merely to list them, largely without comment. … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews, Mandate Period, Resources, Zionism Debate
Tagged 1929, Balfour Declaration, Passfield
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Palestine and Britain 1917-1948: Competing Policies, Creative Commemoration
This talk was given at the Balfour Project conference in Southwark Cathedral on 5th November 2016 entitled: ‘How will we mark the Centenary of the Balfour Declaration’ By Dr Peter Shambrook Context: it is only in the context of the … Continue reading
Posted in Balfour Declaration, Christian Zionism, Mandate Period, McMahon-Hussein Correspondence, Pre-Balfour Declaration, Zionism Debate
Tagged 1915, 1917, Anglo-French Declaration, Balfour Declaration, British Mandate, League of Nations, Palestine Mandate
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The Mandate years: colonialism and the creation of Israel
Charles Glass, writing in the London Review of Books in 2001, reviewed two books looking at the period of the British Mandate in Palestine. Although written 22 years ago it touches on topics that are very little known in the … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews, Mandate Period, Zionism Debate
Tagged Balfour Declaration, British Mandate, Lord Curzon, Montagu, Weizmann, Zionism
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Dec 11th 1917, General Allenby shows how a ‘moral man’ conquers Jerusalem
On this day he entered Jerusalem, modestly on foot, two days after the Turks surrendered it, after several attempts. By David B. Green | Dec. 11, 2014 | 3:46 AM from Haaretz In December 11, 1917, General Edmund Allenby, commander … Continue reading
Posted in Historical, Mandate Period
Tagged 1917, Allenby, Jerusalem
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Britain’s Secret Re-Assessment of the Balfour Declaration. The Perfidy of Albion, by John Quigley
John Quigley* President’s Club Professor in Law, Moritz College of Law, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States of America From the Journal of the History of International Law Revue d’histoire du droit international Volume 13, Number 2, 2011 … Continue reading
Posted in Balfour Declaration, Mandate Period
Tagged !922 White paper, 1923, Balfour Declaration, British Mandate, Churchill, Curzon, International Law, League of Nations, Weizmann, Zionism
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