Tag Archives: Palestine
Israel’s settlers on the rampage in Masafer Yatta threaten to obliterate Umm al-Khair
The Balfour Project’s Lara Bird-Leakey reports on the latest settler raids in the South Hebron Hills and the imminent erasure of a Palestinian community “The worst day ever in Umm Al-Khair. The Israeli occupation forces are destroying people’s homes. So … 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 … Continue reading
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Tagged 1917, Balfour, Balfour Declaration, Christian Zionism, Palestine, Rothschild, Zionism
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Where Is the World for the Palestinians?
By El Hassan bin Talal AMMAN – It should come as no surprise that US’s proposed peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians bears all the hallmarks of a real-estate transaction. This supposed “Deal of the Century” certainly embodies none … Continue reading
As prominent Israelis dedicated to peace, we oppose Trump’s apartheid plan
Published in a letter to the Independent 30 January 2020 As Israelis dedicated to a peaceful future for our country and for our Palestinian neighbours, we state our principled opposition to the Trump administration’s plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This … Continue reading
You are right, Prime Minister: Israel needs a Palestinian State. We should recognise it, now: Open Letter to Boris Johnson from Sir Vincent Fean
Dear Prime Minister, This month HRH Prince Charles visits Israel and Palestine together for the first time, invited by Presidents Rivlin and Abbas. He will undertake engagements on your behalf in both countries. This is historic, and welcome. For more … Continue reading
The time is right to recognise Palestine
Text of letter published in The Times, January 20th 2020 THE TIME IS RIGHT TO RECOGNISE PALESTINESir, Today Britain attends her last EU foreign affairs council. On the agenda is the Middle East peace process, which must address recognition of … Continue reading
Tragedy in Gaza: Britain’s legacy Scotland’s role
Conference Edinburgh March 2019 Gaza, under Israeli military occupation since 1967, is home to two million Palestinians. Most are there because in 1948, when Britain abandoned its Mandate for Palestine, Gaza gave refuge to Palestinians forced to flee from the … Continue reading
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Tagged Gaza, Palestine, Palestine Mandate, Sacred Trust of civilisation
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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
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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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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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
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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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
Rescuing Balfour: Winston Churchill at the Colonial Office 1921-22, By William Mathew
Given the sheer improbability of the Balfour Declaration, its source in temporary war-time contingencies, its activation of inter-communal conflict in Palestine, and its exposure to increasing opposition both at home and in the Levant, the 1917 War Cabinet pledge … Continue reading
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Tagged 1921, 1922, Balfour Declaration, British Mandate, League of Nations, McMahon Hussain, Palestine, Palestine Mandate, Weizmann, Zionism
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The McMahon promise to Hussein
By Roger Spooner In 1915 Sir Henry McMahon, British High Commissioner in Egypt, offered Sherif Hussein of Mecca an independent Arab state if he would help the British fight against the Ottoman Turks. Hussein’s interest in throwing off his Turkish … Continue reading
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Tagged 1915, Anglo-French Declaration, British Mandate, Hussein Ibn Ali, Lebanon, McMahon, McMahon Hussain, Middle East, Palestine, Palestine Mandate
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The Balfour Declaration and UK recognition of the Palestinian State….
On Oct 13th 2014 British MPs voted in favour of recognising Palestine as a state alongside Israel. The House of Commons backed the move “as a contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution” The full motion stated: “That this House … Continue reading
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Tagged 1917, Balfour Declaration, British Mandate, Palestine, Palestine Mandate, Sacred Trust of civilisation
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The Palestine Deception, 1915-1923, by William Mathew
In 2015, historian William Mathew published a book consisting of a series of articles from the Daily Mail of 1923. These presented a hitherto uninformed British readership with details of official promises made to the Arabs in 1915-16 of post-war … Continue reading
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Tagged 1923, Balfour Declaration, British Mandate, McMahon Hussain, Palestine, Sykes Picot, Zionism
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Perfidious Albion: Britain’s broken promises: the Balfour Declaration (1917) and its impact on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict: what are our responsibilities today?
This lecture was given by Professor Mary Grey in the URC Church, Crondall, Northumberland for their Peace and Reconciliation centre, 5th September 2014 Here in Northumberland, it is impossible to forget the bloodshed of the Battle of Flodden in 1513, … Continue reading
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Tagged 1917, 1919, Balfour, Balfour Declaration, George Eliot, Herzl, Lloyd George, Palestine, Palestine Mandate, Shaftesbury, Weizmann, Zionism
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War cabinet minutes leading to the Balfour Declaration, 1917
On November 9th 1917 the Times published the minutes of the 4 War Cabinet meetings where, what became known as the Balfour Declaration, was discussed. They had before them the document produced by the Zionist Organisation on July 18th 1917 … Continue reading
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Tagged 1917, Balfour Declaration, Lloyd George, Lord Curzon, Lord Milner, Montagu, Palestine, Rothschild, War Cabinet Minutes, Zionist movement
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“Perfidious Albion” The British Legacy in Palestine, by Ilan Pappe
Professor Ilan Pappé’s paper at the Balfour Project conference in October 2013, was entitled “Perfidious Albion” The British Legacy in Palestine. Many participants thought it was very inspiring. He revealed that British involvement in the Middle East and Palestine specifically … Continue reading
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Tagged 19th Century, Christian Zionism, Crusades, Empress Helena, Middle East, millenarianism, Palestine, restorationism, Shaftesbury, Sykes
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“Are we trapped by our own narratives?” by Tony Klug
Tony Klug, speaking at the Balfour Project conference in October 2013 spoke stirringly to the question “Are we trapped by our own narratives?” He began by demonstrating that everyone becomes a player in this seemingly intractable conflict, where what passes … Continue reading
As the Arabs see the Jews, by His Majesty King Abdullah
The American Magazine November, 1947 Summary This appeal to the American people, written by King Abdullah, son of Sharif Hussein and grandfather of the current King of Jordan, appeared in the United States six months before the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. … Continue reading
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Tagged 1947, Arabs, Jew, King Abdullah, League of Nations, Middle East, Palestine, Zionism
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Debating Palestine and Israel – Book review by Jeremy Moodey
Dan Cohn-Sherbok and Mary Grey, Debating Israel and Palestine, (Exeter, Impress Books, 2014). It was George Orwell who wrote in his book 1984, “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” As with the … Continue reading
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Tagged 19th Century, Balfour Declaration, British Mandate, Israel, Middle East, Palestine, Palestine Mandate, Zionism
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Britain’s legacy to the tortured Ottoman Empire
Selfish imperial agreements between Britain and France, combined with the publication of the contradictory Balfour Declaration of 1917, fuelled hostilities in the Middle East This article appeared in The Sunday Telegraph on 2 February 2013 Bad times ahead: Sir Edmund … Continue reading
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Tagged Allenby, Balfour Declaration, First World War, French, McMahon, Middle East, Palestine, Picot, Sykes, Sykes Picot, Syria
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Healing the Wounds of History: Looking at the Balfour Declaration with New Eyes
Second annual Balfour Project conference to mark the 96th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration October 30th 2013
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Tagged 1917, 1922, 19th Century, Balfour, Balfour Declaration, First World War, Herbert Samuel, Palestine, restorationism
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Reasons for the Balfour Declaration.
It is commonly claimed that the Balfour Declaration was issued because of war time needs, such as getting America in the war or, keeping control of the Suez Canal and the route to India. These were the reasons given during … Continue reading
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Tagged Balfour, Balfour Declaration, Christian Zionism, First World War, Lloyd George, Palestine, restorationism, Weizmann
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Recommendations of the King Crane Commission
Below is a part of a preface to the publication of the King-Crane Commission Report, published in Editor & Publisher, V.55, No. 27, 2nd Section, December 2, 1922. This is followed by their recommendations on Syria and particularly Zionism. The … Continue reading
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Tagged 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, Balfour Declaration, King Crane, Palestine, Palestine Mandate, President Wilson, Zionism
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Wartime contingency and the Balfour Declaration of 1917 William Mathew: an Improbable Regression
Review by Mary Grey Although for many Jews this Declaration represented a dramatic re-entry of Jews into history, this article argues that it was more a regression than an advance. True, the Balfour Declaration promised to protect the civil and … Continue reading
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Tagged 1917, Asquith, Balfour Declaration, Curzon, Lloyd George, Lord Curzon, McMahon, Montagu, Palestine, Weizmann
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The Balfour Declaration and the Palestine Mandate, 1917–1923: British Imperialist Imperatives
By William M. Mathew ABSTRACT The article sets the Balfour Declaration of 1917 and the final confirmation of Britain’s Palestine Mandate in 1923 within the context of national imperial concerns: in particular, anxieties over the security of the Suez Canal … Continue reading
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Tagged 1917, 1922, Balfour Declaration, British Mandate, First World War, Lloyd George, Lord Curzon, McMahon, Middle East, Palestine, Sykes Picot, Weizmann
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Britain’s betrayal of the sacred trust in Palestine, Prof John Dugard
British policy towards Palestine for the past 100 years has been informed by two narratives, two visions. The first is the vision of a Jewish state in Palestine, captured in the Balfour Declaration of 1917. The second is the … Continue reading
Biography: Arthur Balfour by Brian Klug
From Brian Klug, Being Jewish and Doing Justice: Bringing Argument to LifeLondon: Vallentine Mitchell, 2011, pp. 199-210 There appears to be a conundrum about Arthur Balfour.1 On the one hand, his name is inseparable from the Declaration he … Continue reading
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Tagged Aliens act, anti-semitism, Balfour, Balfour Declaration, Klug, Palestine, Sykes Picot, Zionism
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Agreement Between Emir Feisal and Dr. Weizmann
3 January, 1919 Introduction Following the First World War, Emir Feisal, son of Sherif Hussein (Husayn) of Mecca, and the leader of the Arab movement, met in Aqaba with Dr. Chaim Weizmann, the head of the Zionist Commission to … Continue reading
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Tagged Balfour Declaration, British Mandate, Feisal, Hussein Ibn Ali, McMahon, McMahon Hussain, Middle East, Palestine, Sherif Hussein, Sykes Picot, Weizmann
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Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations
In 1922 (Ratified in 1923) Britain acquired from the League of Nations the Mandate to administer Palestine, which required her to implement the Balfour Declaration, and undertake a “sacred trust of civilisation” to advance the welfare of the Palestinian people … Continue reading
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Tagged League of Nations, Middle East, Palestine, Palestine Mandate, Sacred Trust of civilisation
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Letter from Sir Henry McMahon to Sharif Hussein, October 24, 1915
Below the letter are several articles expanding on Britain’s duplicity over WW1 and after. Letter from Sir Henry McMahon to Sharif Hussein Oct 24th 1915 I have received your letter of the 29th Shawal, 1333, with much pleasure and your … Continue reading
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Tagged 1915, Arab Independence, Damascus, First World War, McMahon, McMahon Hussain, Middle East, Palestine, Sherif Hussein
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British White Paper of June 1922
Below is the White Paper but also read: Rescuing Balfour: Winston Churchill at the Colonial Office 1921-22 Dr William Mathew shows in this essay how Winston Churchill,.. played a vital role in securing the British government`s long-term commitment to the … Continue reading
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Tagged 1922, anti-semitism, Balfour Declaration, Hebert Samuel, Palestine, Sykes Picot, White Paper, Zionist organization
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British White Paper of 1939
In the statement on Palestine, issued on 9 November, 1938, His Majesty’s Government announced their intention to invite representatives of the Arabs of Palestine, of certain neighbouring countries and of the Jewish Agency to confer with them in London regarding … Continue reading
The Theology of the Land
Stephen Sizer The Promised Land – From the Nile to the Euphrates? I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and … Continue reading
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Tagged Abraham, Bible prophecy, Christian Zionism, Palestine, Promised Land, restorationism, Theology
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Time to remind ourselves of Britain’s unhelpful legacy to the Palestinians
It’s 95 years since Lord Balfour informed Baron Rothschild that Britain would back a new Jewish state. The anniversary has been marked not with fireworks, but bombs. By Yasmin Alibhai Brown Monday, 19 November 2012
The Theology of the Land
The Promised Land – From the Nile to the Euphrates? I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God … Continue reading
The Secret of Leopold Amery by William D. Rubinstein
The drafter of the Balfour Declaration was a secret Zionist in what historian William Rubinstein states was “probably the most remarkable example of concealment of identity in twentieth-century British political history” “…Because of his increasingly significant political position, [Amery] … Continue reading
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Tagged 1917, Balfour Declaration, British Mandate, First World War, Leopold Amery, Palestine, Sykes
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