I arrived exhausted at Heathrow on Friday night from a week in the West Bank and Gaza, in Palestine- touring, meeting numerous representatives of the UN, humanitarian organisations, the Palestinian Authority, and the Israeli government. Like most people concerned by the appalling suffering experienced on both sides during this sixty year old conflict, I am clear that only a ‘two-state solution’ offers the prospect of enduring peace- that is, a viable and independent Palestine alongside the state of Israel. Whether or not this did genuinely come with reach after the Oslo agreement in the 1990s and the subsequent negotiations at Camp David is a moot point. What is less disputable is just how far away from a ‘viable, independent’ Palestine we seem to be today. Equally obvious are the extent of the humanitarian crisis affecting the Palestinian people, especially though not exclusively, in the Gaza strip, and the corrosive impact of military occupation upon millions of people either locked inside a 30km by 5km prison (Gaza), or subject to a military checkpoint and security regime of unendurable restriction. (more…)

Speaking at the Queen’s Park Bangladeshi Association AGM on August 31^st, Karen congratulated the committee and members for the work they undertake on behalf of the community, both directly and in partnership with the Neighbourhood Forum. It is because the community is finding its voice that we have been able to successfully bring in resources to this area, such as the new Children’s Centre and the three new secondary schools. Places like Queen’s Park were neglected for decades but massive investment in Sure Start, education, neighbourhood policing and the work of the neighbourhood forums themselves over the last 10 years is now paying off.