Lectures & Talks

Palestine, Britain & Empire: 1841 - 1948
Wednesday 14th & Thursday 15th May 2008

A two-day public conference to mark the 60th anniversary of the British withdrawal from the Palestine mandate, held at King’s College London.

The conference brings together senior scholars and younger historians exploring new approaches to the long-standing connection between Britain and Palestine up to May 1948. In the context of imperial power and a highly complex Palestinian society such themes as religion, mandatory administration, economic development, insurgency and counter-insurgency, art and culture, and decolonization will be considered. Drawing upon the extensive oral, photographic and document collections of the British Empire & Commonwealth Museum, extraordinary personal testimonies will also be presented. A wide range of perspectives and interpretations will thus be brought to bear on the background to one of the most intractable problems in the post-imperial age and also at the same time illuminate wider themes in imperial history.

Speakers include: Simon Anglim (Reading), Eitan Bar-Yosef (Ben Gurion), Martin Bunton (Victoria, Australia), Antoine Capet (Rouen), Motti Golani (Haifa), Matthew Hughes (Brunel), John Knight (Eastern Michigan University), William Roger Louis (Austin), Michael Martin, Rory Miller (King’s College London), Heleen Murre Van Den Berg (Leiden), Susan Pedersen (Columbia), El-Eina Roza, Avi Schlaim (Oxford), Penny Sinanonglou (Harvard).

The conference is being organised in a partnership between King’s College London, the British Empire & Commonwealth Museum and the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and is kindly supported by the MBI Al Jaber Foundation

Download the full Conference Programme

Download the Conference Registration Form

Please send registration forms and enquiries to the MBI Foundation: Ms Marylyn Whaymand: mwhaymand@mbifoundation.com