Category Archives: Misc

On Friday Rishi Sunak welcomed Benjamin Netanyahu, and stressed the importance of upholding shared “democratic values, including in the proposed judicial reforms in Israel”. Mr Netanyahu went home and sacked his Defence Minister for opposing those reforms, which demolish the … Continue reading →

Wednesday 12 April 2023 at 5.30 UK Time (please note the later start time) Richard Falk is an American professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University, and Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor’s Chairman of the Board of Trustees. Falk has … Continue reading →

530pm UK time, Wednesday 12th April 2023 (please note the later start time) Richard Falk, John Dugard and Michael Lynk have agreed to come speak to us to celebrate the launch of their book, Protecting Human Rights in Occupied Palestine: … Continue reading →

By Rabbi Danny Rich Stranger in My Own Land Palestine, Israel and One Family’s Story of Home By Fida Jiryis (C.Hirst & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., London, 2022) In a submission to ‘Zionism: a Jewish Communal Response from the UK’ (Board … Continue reading →

By Michael Lynk In his eloquent 2012 memoir, Kofi Annan, the former secretary general of the United Nations, wrote that the failure of the U.N. to achieve lasting peace in the Middle East was a deep internal wound as old … Continue reading →

By Menachem Klein (reprinted from the US journal LOGOS*) The death of Faisal Husseini, the senior Palestinian leader in East Jerusalem, in May, 2001, and Israel’s order to close the Orient House, the PLO headquarters in Jerusalem, in August of … Continue reading →

By Menachem Klein (reprinted from LOGOS*) This is a much-extended and updated version of a previously published article.[1] Israel’s November, 2022, election results, which led to the establishment of a far right coalition with radical settlers occupying key positions in the … Continue reading →

with Balfour Project chair Andrew Whitley 8 March 2023 Ambassador (ret.) Ilan Baruch is chairperson of the Policy Working Group (PWG), an Israeli advocacy team focusing on policy issues pertaining to the achievement of peace between Israel and Palestine based … Continue reading →

As you may have read or heard, Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s government is advancing large-scale plans to build many new settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. These are being done in defiance of … Continue reading →

The Balfour Project is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO), registered and regulated by the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR). The Balfour Project’s registered address is 30 South Oswald Road, Edinburgh, EH9 2HG, Scotland. Its Registered Charity Number is SC047090. The … Continue reading →

Andrew Whitley – ChairAndrew Whitley succeeded Sir Vincent Fean as Chair of the Balfour Project on 1 June 2022. He has been a Trustee since 2018. A retired senior United Nations official, Andrew spent much of his working life in … Continue reading →

We are republishing this review of Collusion Across the Jordan (1988), the first book to demonstrate conclusively that in 1947-1948, Britain, Jordan and the Zionists worked to ensure there would be no Palestinian state. Israel has continued that policy to … Continue reading →

Occupied Palestinian Territories: Volume 829: debated on Monday 27 March 2023 Asked by Baroness Janke (Lib Dem) To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of (1) the recent transfer of governance powers in parts of the Occupied … Continue reading →

Jerusalem, Jan 30, 2023, issued by the Office of the European Union Representative (West Bank and Gaza Strip, UNRWA) Representatives of Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, the EU, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland the UK … Continue reading →

By John McHugo, Mike Scott-Baumann and Peter Shambrook Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said: “The Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land nor occupiers in our eternal capital Jerusalem, and no UN resolution will twist this historical … Continue reading →

By Mike Scott-Baumann The Report of the Palin Commission (or Court) of Inquiry, 1920 The Commission was established in May, 1920, to examine the reasons for the Jerusalem [‘Nebi Musa’] riots of April, 1920, and “the extent and causes of racial feelings … Continue reading →

Israel and its acolytes have long pushed the agenda that anti-Zionism is a form of anti-Jewish racism. A new book shows how this endeavour came at the expense of Palestinians and diaspora Jews alike. By Em Hilton  “Whatever Happened to Antisemitism?: … Continue reading →

Our annual conference on Wednesday 17th May 2023 is entitled Human Rights in Palestine: Responsibility and Accountability, and is particularly timely. This year marks significant 75 year anniversaries for both Palestinians and Israelis; anniversaries set against a background of an … Continue reading →

19 January 2023 in The Ambassador Partnership                                               By Sir Vincent Fean A team in the UK Foreign Office deals with the Middle East Peace Process, also known as Israel/Palestine. Problem: there is no Process, and no Peace. There is … Continue reading →

UK Statement at the UN Security Council, 18 Jan 2023 Last year saw large numbers of Palestinians and Israelis killed, worsening rates of settler violence, and the emergence of new Palestinian militant groups. Unfortunately, 2023 has also started with violence … Continue reading →

Thursday 23rd February 2023 Matthew Hughes is Chair in military history at Brunel University London. His most recent book Britain’s Pacification of Palestine: the British Army, the Colonial State and the Arab Revolt, 1936-39  came out with Cambridge University Press in 2019. … Continue reading →

March 2023 Matthew Teller’s “Nine Quarters of Jerusalem: A New Biography of the Old City” (Profile Books, 2022) was named a Book of the Year by the Daily Telegraph. Matthew writes for the BBC, Guardian, Independent, Times, Financial Times and … Continue reading →

Author Raja Shehadi in conversation with journalist Tim Llewellyn about his new book We Could Have Been Friends my Father and I  January 2023 Raja Shehadeh is a lawyer and writer and the founder of the pioneering Palestinian human rights … Continue reading →

Author Raja Shehadi in conversation with journalist Tim Llewellyn about his new book We Could Have Been Friends my Father and I  Thursday 19th January 2023 Raja Shehadeh is a lawyer and writer and the founder of the pioneering Palestinian … Continue reading →

Thursday 2nd February 2023 Ray Dolphin worked in the West Bank and Gaza for over 30 years, most recently for the UN office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), where he was Senior Analyst. In addition to numerous UN … Continue reading →

ANDREW WHITLEY, Chair of the Balfour Project Trustees, introduces an article by HUGH LOVATT, of the European Council on Foreign Affairs, on the UN General Assembly decision to ask the World Court to give its opinion on Israel’s occupation and … Continue reading →

Thursday 2nd February 2023 Ray Dolphin worked in the West Bank and Gaza for over 30 years, most recently for the UN office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), where he was Senior Analyst. In addition to numerous UN … Continue reading →

9th January 2023 Please join us for a 45 minute recording of our webinar with Layla Moran MP. Layla, our chair Andrew Whitley and trustee John McHugo launched the Balfour Project booklet recording our 2022 conference “Abandoning Palestine: the end … Continue reading →

by Adnan Mahmud The objective of this project is to bring attention to the issue of the use of harsh surveillancemeasures by the State of Israel towards its Palestinian and Arab populations. The aim is toincrease awareness about the human … Continue reading →

by Ross Plowman and Ethan Hadad Developing on the groundwork set out by last year’s Late Ottoman history workshops, we have created a source-based workshop on the British mandate of Palestine. We will deliver these workshops to Year 12 students … Continue reading →

by Nicole Munson, Joel Stokes, Joe Haidar and Adnan Mahmud Storytelling has long been utilized by humans to keep histories alive and to preserve cultural identities. Although sometimes a source of conflict, storytelling has also been an effective tool for … Continue reading →

I commend to you the letter below to the Foreign Secretary about the incoming Israeli Government. It is signed by Julie Elliott MP, co chair of the Britain Palestine All Party Parliamentary Group at Westminster, and co signed by Parliamentarians … Continue reading →

This is an address by Alon Liel, a leading member of the Policy Working Group in Israel, an NGO that works to end the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories, now in its 56th year, and opposes Israel’s policies towards … Continue reading →

Mostafa Mohamed 8 December 2022 Headed to the quarter-finals after an unprecedented run, the North African team has come to represent something bigger than football After a tense two hours, Morocco defeated Spain in a penalty shootout on Tuesday to … Continue reading →

From player demonstrations to unfurled flags, Palestinian struggle has been visible and fearless at the World Cup. By Dave Zirin and Jules Boykoff When Morocco defeated Spain in a penalty shootout, advancing to the quarterfinals of the Qatar 2022 men’s … Continue reading →

20th December 2022 Omar Karmi, a Palestinian-British journalist, and Tamir Sorek, an expert on football in Palestine-Israel, discuss the Palestinian phenomenon at the 2022 World Cup, the reactions worldwide, and the game and players in Israel-Palestine. Video Audio Transcript Omar … Continue reading →

The Rev. Munther Isaac speaks from inside the walls of beleaguered Bethlehem Munther Isaac is a Palestinian Christian pastor and theologian. He is pastor of  the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem. He is also the academic dean of Bethlehem … Continue reading →

By Richard Burden, Balfour Project Trustee Britain has a new Prime Minister and at least some different faces in Cabinet from those who were there a few weeks ago. Although headlines are understandably dominated by questions about the approach the … Continue reading →

The Balfour Project comments that Israel inherited, deployed after 1948 and still deploys, in the occupied Palestinian territory. many of the British defence emergency regulations, including arrest without trial, military courts  house demolitions, armed attacks against civilian targets and the … Continue reading →

Britain’s Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has dropped the idea of “reviewing” the location of the UK Embassy in Israel, as suggested by his predecessor Liz Truss. Her proposal was to consider moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a … Continue reading →

By Alexander Schloch As the Ottoman Empire began to open to European penetration, between 1831 and 1840, the various Powers, including the British, strengthened their presence in Palestine and their footholds in the empire by establishing diplomatic missions and setting … Continue reading →

Matan Rosenstrauch – Fellowship CoordinatorMatan Rosenstrauch is an anti-occupation activist, working as the Balfour Project Peace Advocacy Fellowship Coordinator for the past three years. He has worked with Jewish communities’ anti-occupation organisations, and helped to establish the Jewish Democratic Initiative, … Continue reading →

There is now extensive evidence that the government of Israel is blatantly violating international law in its rule over the occupied Palestinian lands and its oppressive practices against the Palestinian people. As a friend of Israel, I feel obliged to … Continue reading →

Early 1800s Literal reading of the Bible, which had started in the 1600s, develops further, influenced by John Nelson Darby, Edward Irvine and Prophetic Conferences such as those in Albury. 1840 Lord Shaftesbury, best remembered for legislation on child labour … Continue reading →

66-70 Romans suppress a major  Jewish revolt and the Temple is destroyed. The conquering Roman general, Vespasian, became emperor. 132-135 The Bar Kokba revolt. Jews barred from entering Jerusalem. The Romans name the province Syria Palaestina. Jews move North into … Continue reading →

Early History Before the Common Era 2000-1500 BCE Re-establishment of strong political power in Egypt with advent of the Middle Kingdom led to revitalisation and expansion of trade routes and a period of great prosperity in the Levant. It witnessed … Continue reading →

by Emily Abdeni-Holman and Salma Altabari The live literature reading project provides online guides for conducting live literature reading groups in relation to Palestine and Israel. These guides aim to facilitate bringing people together to discuss Palestinian and Israeli literature. The … Continue reading →