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Is There a Plausible Alternative to The Two-State Solution? By Tony Klug
Dr. Tony Klug has written extensively on Israeli-Palestinian issues. He is a special advisor on the Middle East to the Oxford Research Group and a consultant to the Palestine Strategy Group and the Israel Strategic Forum. His Ph.D. thesis … Continue reading
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
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
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Tagged Article 22, Balfour Declaration, British Mandate, Haycraft Comminssion, Palestine Mandate
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Britain needs to recognise Palestine as an independent state
Ian Black It’s time to get off the fence and resolve this most toxic of global conflicts in the only way possible Over the Bank Holiday weekend, coinciding with the start of the Ramadan fast for Muslims and the run-up … Continue reading
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
U.S. Recognition of Israel, 14 May 1948. Part II: Truman’s Belated Support
Part II: Truman’s Belated Support William M. Mathew See also: 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 … Continue reading
U.S. Recognition of Israel, 14 May 1948. Part I: Roosevelt, Truman, Marshall: A Sequence of Contingencies
William M. Mathew 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’ Abstract Zionism`s two most notable international successes in … Continue reading
Gaza, one year on
Letter to the Times 30 March 2019 Sir,A year on from the avoidable deaths of 60 people at the Gaza fence, rockets and reprisals are recurring. This dismal pattern of behaviour must be broken. Two million people are imprisoned in … Continue reading
Towards an independent Palestinian state: a Scottish call to action
Israel/Palestine: Equal Rights 17 March 2019 From Edinburgh, and the home university of Arthur Balfour,we acknowledge Britain’s historical responsibilities in the Holy Land, from before the Balfour Declaration through the British Mandate to today. Gaza was, is, and always will … Continue reading
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‘The news from Gaza: dispelling myths and telling the truth’
The Glasgow Balfour Project event. March 14, 2019. ( Held at the Sir Charles Wilson Building, Glasgow University, 7.30pm-9.30pm Thursday March 14, 2019) Hala Safadi, a film-maker from Gaza, made the essential point: “The truth is always censored for the … Continue reading
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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
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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
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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
Palestine and Britain: forgotten legacy of World War I that devastated the Middle East
By James Rodgers 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 opportunity to learn something of the extreme consequences of the failure … Continue reading
Swedish recognition of Palestine: politics, law, and prospects for peace
Dr Jacob Eriksson, University of York Sweden’s decision to recognise Palestine on 30 October, 2014, was a controversial one and this article explores two key aspects. First, it contextualises the decision in relation to doctrines about the recognition of states … Continue reading
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Tagged foreign policy, Israel, Palestine, recognition of states, Sweden
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Times letter, 13 September – The Oslo Accords, 25 years on: time to recognise the state of Palestine alongside Israel
Letter published in The Times newspaper, 13 September 2018 Oslo and Palestine Sir, How painful now to recall the hope we had in the Oslo Accords. 25 years on, cynicism and resignation rule. The Israeli occupation since 1967 is so … Continue reading
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Book Review: Enemies and Neighbours – Arabs and Jews in Palestine and Israel, 1917-2017 by Ian Black
By Tim Llewellyn This is a dispassionate book, written by someone who knows almost everything, about the tragic progress of Britain’s experiment with Zionism in Palestine to the present day’s existential horror. Black does not make judgments. His careful selection … Continue reading
Why the state of Palestine is an existential must for the security and viability of the state of Israel
Ilan Baruch, Jerusalem, 23.7.2018 In his ground-breaking speech at the Bar-Ilan University (June 2009), shortly after his second term as PM had begun, Benjamin Netanyahu accentuated the Jewish narrative as the bedrock of Israel: 3500 years of bonding between … Continue reading
“The Jewish Question” in 19th century Europe
By Ian Portman Introduction Faced with increasing antisemitism in Europe towards the end of the 19th century, many Jews chose to join the great waves of European emigration to the United States. Since the high middle ages, most of the … Continue reading
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Tagged 19th Century, Balfour, Dreyfus, Evangelicals, Hechler, Herzl, jewish question, Palestine, pogroms, restorationism, Shaftesbury, Zionism
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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
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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
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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
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The Balfour Declaration, 2 November 1917: A Fateful Improbability
Centenary Lecture to the History Group, The Norfolk Club, 14 September 2017 by William Mathew IRarely in history has there been, as with the Balfour Declaration, such a combination of short-term, variously accidental, origins with dramatically fateful, long-run consequences – … Continue reading
Renewed call for justice and reconciliation in the Holy Land on the centenary of the Balfour Declaration
Catholic and Anglican bishops today, 2 November 2017, called for justice and reconciliation in the Holy Land on the centenary of the Balfour Declaration. Bishop Declan Lang, Catholic bishop of Clifton and Bishop … Continue reading
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Tagged Balfour Declaration, Bishop Christopher Chessun, Bishop Declan Lang
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An interview between Mr Balfour and Justice Brandeis, Paris 1919
An Interview1 in Mr. Balfour’s Apartment, 23 Rue Nitot, Paris, on June 24th, 1919, at 4:45 p.m. Present: Mr. Balfour, Mr. Justice Brandeis, Lord Eustace Percy and Mr. Frankfurter 2 Mr. Balfour expressed great satisfaction that Justice Brandeis came to … Continue reading
Memories Of The Future: On The Anniversary Of The Balfour Declaration
By His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal Member of the Jordanian royal family “A historian can record what went wrong, but – in his feckless and unhelpful way – he’s not necessarily there to tell them how they … Continue reading
Balfour Centenary Declaration
Israel/Palestine: Equal Rights The centenary of the Balfour Declaration is the time to reconcile peace with justice for both Israelis and Palestinians, consistent with the principle Britain claims as her own: equal rights for all under the law. Through the … Continue reading
Report of Britain’s Broken Promise: Time for a New Approach
NEW BOOKLET Britain’s broken promise: Time for a New Approach Extracts of speeches at the Balfour Centenary commemoration, Central Hall Westminster Act of acknowledgement and commitment Balfour Centenary Declaration Printed version can be bought here or downloaded here A video … Continue reading
Prominent Israelis call for recognition of Palestine
Jerusalem, 26.10.2017 BRITAIN’S BROKEN PROMISE: TIME FOR A NEW APPROACH The 1917 Balfour Declaration, issued by the British Empire at the height of its power, promised to help “facilitate the achievement” of a “national home for the Jewish … Continue reading
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Tagged 1917, Balfour Declaration, Israel, Palestine, Policy Working Group, Recognition of Palestine
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A calamitous promise
The Guardian’s Long Read of 17 October was headlined ‘Britain’s calamitous promise’. Author Ian Black writes ‘The brief document that bears Balfour’s name is seen as marking the beginning of what is today widely considered the world’s most intractable conflict.’ … Continue reading
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Tagged 1917, Balfour Declaration, First World War, McMahon Hussain, Palestine, Sykes Picot, Zionism
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Calls for Acknowledgement of Britain’s Role
Nicholas Frayling in the Church Times: British responsibility for the contradictions in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute gives the UK a duty to right a wrong, A policy of 1917 whose legacy needs addressing. Donald Macintyre in the Guardian Oct 13th ‘A … Continue reading
The Balfour Declaration: 100 Years On.
At this 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration which arrives on November 2nd many events, looking at the century of conflict the Declaration has lead to, are taking place around the country. One major one on October 31st at Methodist Central … Continue reading
Different ways of seeing the Balfour Declaration – BBC Radio 4 “Sunday” 1st October 2017
“The BBC Radio Four ‘Sunday’ programme on October 1st included this very fair and balanced report on the forthcoming centenary of the Balfour Declaration. Chris Rose from the Amos Trust, speaking about the unfulfilled promises to the Palestinian people, echoed … Continue reading
Book Review: Beyond the Balfour Declaration by Lord Leslie Turnberg
by John McHugo In Beyond the Balfour Declaration: The 100-Year Quest for Israeli-Palestinian Peace, (Biteback Publishing, 2017) Leslie Turnberg has tried to grapple with the difficult problem of achieving peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Turnberg is a Labour life peer. … Continue reading
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Tagged 1917, 1922, Balfour Declaration, British Mandate, McHugo, McMahon Hussain, Palestine, Turnberg
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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
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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
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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
Unfinished business? Seeking peace through the door of justice in the Holy Land
Read the article by The Very Revd Nicholas Frayling, Dean Emeritus of Chichester, on Unfinished Business in the Pax Christi newsletter of June – July 2017
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Mahatma Gandhi and the Wounds of History: Palestine, India and the British Empire in the 20th century
Professor Rajmohan Gandhi, Committee Room 14, in the House of Commons, London, 18th April 2017 The British Parliament does not often hear an Asian perspective on the Middle East. The very term ‘Middle East’ is Europe-centred; in India … Continue reading
Peel Commission
The Peel Commission published its Palestine Royal Commission-Peel Commission report in July 1937. The report admitted that the mandate was unworkable because Jewish and Arab objectives in Palestine were incompatible, and it proposed that Palestine be partitioned into three zones: … Continue reading
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Woodhead Commission
The commission, led by Sir John Woodhead, was formed in March 1938 in response to dissension within the British government over the July 1937 Peel partition plan for Palestine and the re-ignition of the Arab revolt that had followed its … Continue reading
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The reversal of the Passfield White Paper, 1930-31 : a reassessment.
Beckerman-Boys, Carly (2016) ‘The reversal of the Passfield White Paper, 1930-31 : a reassessment.’, Journal of contemporary history., 51 (2). pp. 213-233. Abstract British mandated Palestine has attracted scholarly attention for its role in the development of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. … Continue reading
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The Balfour Declaration
It is no exaggeration that the history of Israel/Palestine for the last hundred years has turned on the seminal Balfour Declaration of November 1917. Loved and loathed in equal measure, this was the letter that changed the future. The following extract … Continue reading
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Tagged 1917, Balfour, Balfour Declaration, Curzon, Lloyd George, Lord Curzon, Montagu
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Reclaiming the lost Jewish voices of the Balfour Declaration, by Robert Cohen
This article was part of Robert Cohen’s talk at the Balfour Project conference,’How will we mark the centenary of the Balfour Declaration’ in Southwark Cathedral on November 5th 2016: A leading British Rabbi has written: “Zionism and Zionistic activities not … Continue reading
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Tagged 1917, Balfour Declaration, Claude Montefiore, Lucian Wolf, Montagu
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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
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Tagged 1915, 1917, Anglo-French Declaration, Balfour Declaration, British Mandate, League of Nations, Palestine Mandate
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Balfour Declaration Centenary, 2017: towards constructive commemoration
‘I never knew that ……’ Liverpool Hope University 1st October 2016. The use of round tables in the Eden Arbour Room at Liverpool Hope University facilitated a welcome and a warmth to the buzz of conversation as participants in the … Continue reading
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
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Tagged Balfour Declaration, British Mandate, Lord Curzon, Montagu, Weizmann, Zionism
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‘Britain in Palestine’ shown in UK Parliament
Parliamentarians from all four of Britain’s main political parties sponsored a showing of ‘Britain in Palestine, 1917-1948’ in The Attlee Suite – one of the main conference suites in the British Parliament. The audience of 130 watched the documentary, which … Continue reading
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Tagged 1915, 1917, Balfour Declaration, commemoration, First World War, Marking the Balfour Declaration, McMahon Hussain
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McMahon, Sykes, Balfour: Contradictions and Concealments in British Palestine Policy 1915-1917
by WILLIAM M. MATHEW Lecture given to the History Group of The Norfolk Club, 14 April 2016 to mark the centenary of the Sykes-Picot Agreement 1916 Abstract These three war-time initiatives are presented as part of a compressed, uncoordinated, two-year … Continue reading
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Tagged Contradictory Promises, Lloyd George, Lord Curzon, McMahon, McMahon Hussain, Picot, Sherif Hussein, Sykes, Zionism
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J.M.N. Jeffries` Palestine Deception: Modern Resonances
In a recent review article (New Middle Eastern Studies 5 [2015]) on , The Palestine Deception, 1915-1923: The McMahon-Hussein Correspondence, the Balfour Declaration, and the Jewish National Home. ed William Mathew Dr. Nadia Naser-Najjab of the Institute of Arab and … Continue reading