CategoryWorld

One doctor’s eyewitness testimony of the agony of Gaza

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While the news from the Middle East is understandably now focussing on the horrors unfolding in Lebanon and the real threat of tit for tat strikes between Israel and Iran escalating into a full scale regional war, please do not forget the agony which people in Gaza and the West Bank continue to endure. So if you watch nothing else online today, please look this short video of an American doctor …

October 7 – one year on

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A few days ago, on the anniversary of the pogrom that took place on October 7th last year, Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East, of which I am an Executive member, published this statement. It reflects my personal thoughts too.

Getting to the truth about Israel’s assault on West Bank towns

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In June 2023, I visited a hospital in Nablus a few hours after it had been surrounded by Israeli troops. The attacks that have been launched on on West Bank towns, villages and refugee camps this week are a big escalation but they are still part of a pattern that has been going on for years. In a statement about the Israeli military assaults in the West Bank, UN Secretary General, Antonio …

Wasteland

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A United Nations delegation has made it into northern Gaza. They made a video on their way in and it is now circulating on social media. It is hard for me to come to terms with the fact that this is the same part of Gaza that I visited last summer. I probably drove in on the same road.

Today is Srebrenica Memorial Day

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Today is Srebrenica Memorial Day: a day to pay tribute to the victims and survivors of the 1990s genocide in Bosnia, and a day to commit to challenging hate, both at home and overseas. The Remembering Srebrenica theme for Memorial Week 2024 is “I Am Because You Are”. In the West Midlands we have two Srebrenica memorial events taking place today with Bosnia and Herzegovina UK Network, one on …

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Richard Burden

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I was Labour Member of Parliament for Birmingham Northfield between 1992 and 2019 and a former Shadow Transport Minister. I now chair Healthwatch in Birmingham and Solihull, and the West Midlands Board of Remembering Srebrenica. I also work as a public affairs consultant. I am an effective community advocate and stakeholder alliance builder with a passion for human rights. I am a trustee of the Balfour Project charity and of Citizens Advice Birmingham, and a former Chair of Medical Aid for Palestinians.

Get in touch

You can reach me by email at richard@richardburden.com or use the form on the Contact page to send me a message.