Towards Justice and Peace in the Middle East

Join Initiatives of Change in a two-session online webinar ‘Towards Justice and Peace in the Middle East.’ on 1 June, 2024.

Moderated by International Council member Dr Maria del Pilar Griffin, and Vice President Mounir Beltaifa, this virtual event features distinguished speakers who will critically examine the role of Britain and the West in the century-long conflict in Palestine / Israel and will explore paths to lasting peace.

Save the event date and times, learn more about our panelists and register today to confirm your participation!

Saturday, 1 June 2024
1st session: 13:00 – 15:00 UTC / GMT
2nd session: 15:30 – 17:30 UTC / GMT

Register Here

Meet the Panelists – Session 1

Dr. Peter Shambrook

The Times Literary Supplement describes Peter Shambrook’s book Policy of Deceit (Oneworld Academic, 2023) as a ‘forensic, fair-minded’ exposure of ‘how the British government broke its promises to the people of Palestine.’ Dr Shambrook holds a PhD in modern Middle Eastern history from Cambridge University, and has held several research positions including at Durham University and at the Centre for Lebanese Studies in Oxford. He is the historical consultant to The Balfour Project, and the author of French Imperialism in Syria, 1927–1936 (Ithaca Press, 1998). He lives in Durham.

Sir Vincent Fean

Sir Vincent Fean is a retired British diplomat and former Ambassador. He served as High Commissioner to Malta (2002–06), Ambassador to Libya (2006–10), and Consul General, Jerusalem (de facto ambassador to the Occupied Palestinian Territories) from 2010 to 2014. After retirement he chaired the Balfour Project, which works to advance equal rights for all in Palestine/Israel. In recent years he has spoken and written extensively in the British media on how Britain could help towards a lasting peace between Israel and Palestine.

Dr. Alon Liel

Dr Alon Liel is the former director general of the Foreign Ministry of Israel and was also Israel’s ambassador to South Africa. In 2014 he was an instigator of a campaign by Israeli academics and former diplomats to encourage European governments to recognize Palestine as a sovereign state, and has since worked assiduously for this recognition as a step towards justice and peace between Israel and Palestine.

Meet the Panelists – Session 2

Prof. Ilan Pappe

Ilan Pappe is an Israeli historian and socialist activist. He is a professor of history at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, director of the university’s European Centre for Palestine Studies, and co-director of the Exeter Centre for Ethno-Political Studies.
He is the author of the bestselling The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (Oneworld), A History of Modern Palestine (Cambridge),
The Modern Middle East (Routledge), The Israel/Palestine Question (Routledge), The Forgotten Palestinians: A History of the Palestinians in Israel (Yale), The Idea of Israel: A History of Power and Knowledge (Verso) and with Noam Chomsky, Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on Israel’s War Against the Palestinians (Penguin). He writes for The Guardian and the London Review of Books among others.

Bahia Amra

Bahia Amra is Director of Programs and External Relations at the Palestinian Medical Relief Society which, since 1979, with 310 staff and 1100 voluntary workers, has been helping populations in the Old City of Jerusalem and in 182 villages and refugee camps in Gaza and the West Bank in collaboration with the French aid agencies Secours Populaire and CCFD. Their programs cover many schools and youth centres. Bahia has worked for 25 years for policy reforms promoting gender equality, women’s empowerment, and economic development.

Prof. Jeffrey Sachs

Jeffrey Sachs is an American economist and public policy analyst, professor at Columbia University. He is known for his work on sustainable development, economic development, and the fight to end poverty.
Sachs is Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University and President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
He is an SDG Advocate for United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of 17 global goals adopted at a UN summit meeting in September 2015. He writes frequently in publications throughout the world calling for an end to the war in Gaza and the recognition of Palestinian statehood.