Author Archives: Diana Safieh

The British Government’s current position on Israel and Palestine: Elections

Question by Baroness Tonge (Independent) on 18th january 2021 (HL12261) To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that all Palestinians are able to vote freely in (1) the elections for the legislature on 22 May, … Continue reading

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The British Government’s current position on Israel and Palestine: Environmental issues

Question by Baroness Janke (Lib Dem) on 24th January 2022 (HL5626) To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to protect Palestinians in territories occupied by Israel from damage to olive groves and crops by Israeli settlers. Answer from … Continue reading

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British Government’s Current Position: Education of Israeli & Palestinian children

Question by Caroline Ansell (Conservative) on 24th May 2022 (UIN8084) To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with representatives of the Palestinian Authority (PA) on the removal of material … Continue reading

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British Government’s Current Position: Trade with Israel

Business and Trade – Oral Questions to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of Business and Trade:– Kate Osamor: I understand that the Government are set to undertake a second round of trade negotiations with Israel in the spring. Israel applies our current … Continue reading

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British Government’s Current Position: Unemployment in Gaza

Q Asked by Baroness Tonge (Independent) on 14 January 2019 Department for International Development: Gaza: Young People: HL12814 To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the World Bank’s findings in October 2018 that there is 70 … Continue reading

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British Government’s Current Position: State of health services in Gaza

Question from Baroness Janke (Lib Dem) on 1st February 2023 (HL5314) To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effects of the Israeli blockade of Gaza on people living there; and in particular, what assessment they … Continue reading

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British Government’s Current Position: Gaza

Question from Andy McDonald (Labour) on 4 July 2022 (UIN 30027) To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations she has made to her Israeli counterpart on ending the blockade of Gaza in compliance … Continue reading

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British Government’s Current Position: Status of Palestinians in East Jerusalem

Question by Baroness Janke (Lib Dem) on 23rd May 2022 (HL422) To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of (1) the presence of armed Israeli forces at St Joseph’s hospital on 13 May, (2) the actions of … Continue reading

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British Government’s Current Position: Freedom of worship in Israel, Jerusalem & the West Bank

Question by the Bishop of Southwark on 9th January 2023 (HL4594) To ask His Majesty’s Government what representation they have made to the government of Israel to safeguard and protect religious minorities in that country following the desecration of graves … Continue reading

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British Government’s Current Position: Israel’s Nation State Law and other internal Israeli legislation

Question from Baroness Janke (Lib Dem) on 1st February 2023 (HL5318) To ask His Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of Israel regarding (1) the right of Palestinians living in Israel (a) to hold Israeli citizenship, … Continue reading

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British Government’s Current Position:The treatment of Palestinians during Israeli arrests and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails

Question by Baroness Sheehan (Lib Dem) on 10th January 2022 (HL5266) To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel concerning the treatment of Palestinians and their property during night raids by Israeli forces. … Continue reading

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British Government’s Current Position: Detention of Palestinian Children by Israel

Question by Baroness Sheehan (Lib Dem) on 23rd May (HL453) To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel concerning reports of Israeli forces using a girl as a human shield, and then bombing … Continue reading

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British Government’s Current Position: Forced evictions of Palestinians

Question from Baroness Janke (Lib Dem) on 1st February 2023 (HL5315) To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the expulsion of Palestinian residents from the Masafer Yatta area of the West Bank; and what discussions they … Continue reading

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British Government’s Current Position: Restrictions of movement in the West Bank

Question: by Baroness Tonge (Independent) on 10 June 2019 Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Hebron, (HL16231) To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the consequences for Palestinian children in Hebron of the removal of the Temporary International Presence … Continue reading

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British Government’s Current Position: Settler and Israeli army violence towards Palestinians

Question from Seema Malhotra (Labour) on 8th February 2023 To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the situation in Jenin. Answer by David Rutley (Conservative) on 20th February 2023 … Continue reading

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British Government’s Current Position: Israeli settlement building and demolitions

Question by Wera Hobhouse (Lib Dem) on 18th January 2023 (UIN 126759) To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made representations to the Israeli Government over settlement expansion and demolitions of Palestinian … Continue reading

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British Government’s Current Position: The occupation of Palestinian land by Israel

Question by Baroness Janke on 15th June 2022 (HL993) To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the UN Human Rights Council Commission of Inquiry report on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, published on 9 May; and in … Continue reading

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British Government’s Current Position: Prioritising peace and cooperation in the Middle East in the midst of COVID-19

Question by Baroness Janke (Lib Dem) on 1st February 2022 (HL5843) To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they intend to offer, if any, to the COVID-19 vaccination programme for Palestinians in Gaza, given reports of shortages of medical equipment. … Continue reading

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British Government’s Current Position: Recognition of Palestine as a State

Question by Rupa Huq Labour, Ealing and central Acton on 28th August 2020 (UIN82211) To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has held with his counterparts in other European states on reaching … Continue reading

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British Government’s Current Position: Annexation

Oral Answer on Monday 6th July 2020 1. Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime:– Dominic Raab (Conservative, First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs):  Mr Speaker, with permission, I would like to make a … Continue reading

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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

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Parallel Histories videos

Parallel Histories have developed a series of videos for teaching disputed history starting with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They have produced a film  ‘Should the British government be praised or blamed for the Balfour Declaration?’.  Do watch it. They also have many … Continue reading

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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

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‘History will judge us’ — Have progressive UK rabbis reached end of the road on Israel?

By Robert A. H. Cohen, published on Mondoweiss, 30 July 2020 Progressive rabbis in the UK have written to the Israeli embassy in London to express their concern over the Israeli government’s plans to annex parts of the West Bank. … Continue reading

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Tim Llewellyn on The Crafting of the News: the British media and the Israel-Palestine Question

A talk given online in August 2020. Tim Llewellyn: Hello, everyone. I want to start by saying two basic things to plan out, to map out my thesis, if you like, about the British media coverage, particularly the broadcasting media … Continue reading

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Over 40 British rabbis write to the UK Israeli embassy opposing annexation

By Alleks Phillips, first published in The Jewish Chronicle, 9 July 2020 Over 40 British rabbis – including former Liberal senior rabbi Danny Rich and outgoing Reform senior rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner – have written to the Israeli embassy in London … Continue reading

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The Balfour Declaration: A study in British duplicity by Avi Shlaim

Published in The Middle East Eye on 1 November 2017. It’s been nearly 100 years since the document changed the course of history, yet Britain still fails to acknowledge Israel’s denial of the Palestinian right to national self-determination – and … Continue reading

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