On Christmas Eve, I received the following bulletin about Gaza from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Jerusalem (www.ochaopt.org).
The Gaza crossings have been closed completely for eight consecutive days including for humanitarian supplies. This is the second longest period the crossings have remained closed since the Hamas takeover in June 2007.
Richard Burden MP, Chair of the Britain-Palestine All Party Parliamentary Group, has today called on President Peres, the next Israeli Prime Minister and President Elect Obama to embrace new thinking to secure peace and justice in the Middle East for both Israelis and Palestinians. As Foreign Secretary David Miliband completes his visit to the Middle East, today sees both Israeli President Shimon...
‘The international community must seize new opportunities to tackle the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and help to help achieve a lasting peace between Israel and Palestine’, Richard Burden MP has said today. Mr Burden is a member of the UK’s House of Commons International Development Committee. Today the Committee has published a new report on the Humanitarian and Development Situation in the...
I am sure many of you will have been following the developments in Zimbabwe over the last few weeks, as I have. Zimbabwe, once seen as a future beacon for Africa, today faces economic ruin with inflation running at above 100,000% and unemployment at about 80%. For millions of people in Zimbabwe every day life is a battle against poverty, disease and disempowerment. Life expectancy is down to only...
A debate on Global Security in the Middle East took place in Westminster Hall yesterday. The debate followed the publication of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee report on the issue in August last year and the Government’s response in October.
MPs have expressed their revulsion at the mounting death toll in Gaza and called on the international community to take immediate action.
An Early Day Motion (EDM) on Gaza was tabled by Richard Burden MP on 3 March 2008 and has been signed by 68 Members of Parliament.
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.