Souvenir Booklet Jerusalem Conference 2020
Jerusalem: From Past Divisions to a Shared Future? Balfour The Case for Equal Rights Souvenir Booklet from our Online Conference Held on 27th October 2020 Project Statement: Israel/Palestine: Equal Rights for lasting Peace The Balfour Project issued this statement at the end of the conference, signed by British Parliamentarians and Faith leaders, to be conveyed to the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary. We acknowledge Britain’s historic responsibilities for inequality and discrimination in Jerusalem and across the Holy Land. They stem from the last century, through the Balfour Declaration and the British Mandate for Palestine, with consequences which are still felt today. Past British responsibility for present injustice demands British commitment to work urgently for a better future, respecting equal rights. With British assistance, the Jewish people exercised their right to self-determination in the Holy Land more than 70 years ago. To this day, the Palestinian people are denied this right. This injustice must end. The future of Jerusalem is crucial to peace between Israelis and Palestinians, and between Israel and the Arab and Muslim worlds. The recent normalisation of relations between Israel and some Arab Gulf states is no substitute for a lasting peace founded on broad popular consent from Israelis and Palestinians. Sharing Jerusalem is essential to gain that consent. Palestinians and Israelis will share the Holy Land forever, and must shape its future together. Only equality will bring safety and well-being, and essential dialogue. The two peoples, alone, have not attained peaceful coexistence. So, for the good of both, and if we truly mean what we say, we in Britain must help reverse current negative developments which only entrench separation and inequality.
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