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Britain is shamed by crisis in the Middle East Harry Reid Columnist Tuesday 5 August 2014 Sadly the First World War and the ongoing crisis in the Middle East are linked in a way that shames the British state. The … Continue reading →

Fourteen Points Wikisource has original text related to this article: Fourteen Points Speech Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of any kind but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in … Continue reading →

The reasons for the Balfour Declaration have been discussed extensively. It has until recently been commonly assumed that it arose as a tool in our war against Germany. But current thinking is increasingly looking at the role of fundamentalist Christian … Continue reading →

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 →

Sir Vincent Fean interviewed on LBC Oct 13 2023

30 June 2023 Dear Sir Keir, Economic Activities of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill: If Labour’s “reasoned amendment” is voted down in Parliament on Monday, please vote against the Bill I write on behalf of the trustees of the Balfour … Continue reading →

We give here an extract of the section on the Balfour Declaration in the Companion Guide to our film Britian in Palestine 1917-1948. Do watch the film and you can buy a copy of the Companion Guide covering other

Martin A. Smith Origins and background Though little-remembered today, the 1919 Inter-Allied Commission on Mandates in Turkey, more popularly known as the King-Crane Commission after its two co-chairs, was the first and one of the most important of the 21 … Continue reading →

1901 Keren Kayemeth [Jewish National Fund] founded as land-acquisition organ of WZO; land acquired by JNF in Palestine to be inalienably Jewish, and exclusively Jewish labour to be employed on it. 1903 Lloyd George’s law firm acted for Herzl in … 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 →

1904-6 Weizmann moves to Manchester. Meets Balfour and Churchill whose constituences were in Manchester November 1914 Palestine was first discussed at British Cabinet level on 9 November 1914. After the meeting Lloyd George assured Herbert Samuel, “he was very keen … 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 →

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 →

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu wrote an exclusive article for Haaretz in 2014, in which he called for a global boycott of Israel and urged Israelis and Palestinians to look beyond their leaders for a sustainable solution to the crisis in … Continue reading →

On Saturday May 18th 2013, the Balfour Project held a one day conference at The Stripe, University of Winchester exploring the different legacies of the Balfour Declaration and how a greater understanding of history can contribute to justice and peace … Continue reading →

League of Nations 30 November 1937 C.495.M.336.1937.VI.Geneva, November 30th, 1937. LEAGUE OF NATIONS MANDATES P A L E S T I N E ——– REPORT of the PALESTINE ROYAL COMMISSION presented by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to … Continue reading →

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Miranda Pinch It all started on the evening of April 18, 2017, the day that the date of the next British General Election was announced. I was attending a Balfour Project meeting in the House of Lords. After the meeting … Continue reading →

Click here to read Nabil Fahmy’s The “Deal” of the Century? Nabil Fahmy writes: ‘The Trump plan imposes Israeli security and economic control over a self-autonomous Palestinian entity’ Below are Sir Vincent Fean’s thoughts on Fahmy’s suggestions. Dr Nabil Fahmy, … Continue reading →

Online talk by Sir Vincent Fean, Balfour Project, 2 April 2020 Read the transcript below: Vincent: A welcome to all. Thank you all for joining the Balfour Project today. I think it’s important to have this discussion to keep the … Continue reading →

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 →

This article from Haaretz, which was published in July 2019 describes how Israel is suppressing information on what actually happened during the Nakba. Even information that was previously available. The first part of the Nakba took place whilst the British … Continue reading →

There’s a strong parallel between the Balfour Declaration and the Trump Vision. In both of the two historical circumstances -and the Trump plan is historical – a foreign state arrogated to itself the right to bestow to one people territory … Continue reading →

After a thorough consideration of the United States of America’s Middle East peace plan, also known as, the “Deal of the Century”,and after reviewing the reactions of all concerned parties on the matter, we, Patriarchs and Heads of the Holy … Continue reading →

Claudia Beamish MSP (Labour) introduced a members’ business debate on motion S5M-16637, “Towards an independent Palestinian state: a Scottish proposal” calling for action leading to an independent Palestinian state and acknowledging Britain’s historical responsibilities in what was to become Israel … Continue reading →

This article was first published on the Conservative Middle East Council website Analysis 23 September 2019 Sir Vincent Fean KCVO Sir Vincent Fean is Chair of Trustees of the Balfour Project. Between 2010-14, Sir Vincent was British Consul-General in Jerusalem. … Continue reading →

115 British Parliamentarians demand British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson act robustly to any Israeli annexation of Occupied Palestinian Territory. In the letter, sent from the Britain-Palestine All-Party Parliamentary Group, the Parliamentarians insisted that the British Government and its partners in … Continue reading →