Lord Leslie Turnberg- Beyond the Balfour Declaration

After a distinguished career in medicine, Leslie Turnberg has turned his attention to the thorny problems of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Professor of Medicine and Dean of the Faculty in the University of Manchester and President of the Royal College of Physicians in London, he now uses his experience in research and in large organisations to analyse the reasons behind the inability of the Zionists and Arabs to reach a compromise. As a Labour peer, he focuses on the problems that abound in the Middle East in his interventions in debates in the House of Lords. He opened the debate on July 7th on the Balfour Declaration and said that Israel owed an enormous debt to Britain.

2017 marks one hundred years since the Balfour Declaration, the landmark letter that expressed the British government’s support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. A century later, the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians rages on, without prospect of a peace agreement any time soon. Lord Turnberg will explore why efforts to resolve the conflict have always failed, and question how an agreement could ever be reached.

Shedding some much-needed light on many of the misconceptions of the declaration, he will also trace the complex history of the situation since 1917, and placing this particular conflict within the context of the turmoil in the rest of the Middle East, he will explain how they have influenced one another.

At a time of global uncertainties and fears of terrorism, he will offer a balanced look at how best to plot a course amongst shifting alliances and an ever-changing political climate. Why have negotiations between Palestine and Israel consistently broken down? He will outline details of what an agreement might look like, and the steps that need to be taken to begin the process.
Lord Turnberg will be available after the lecture to sign copies of his new book ‘Beyond the Balfour Declaration’.