I have supported PSC for many years, starting in the days when it seemed to be the only voice out there telling the world about the treatment of the Palestinians and Israel's total disregard of International Law. Thanks to PSC a huge campaign has now been joined, to bring them justice and peace. I am proud to be a patron of PSC.
Baroness Jenny Tonge
I am a patron of PSC for more than one reason. Firstly, as a Palestinian I am committed to supporting all efforts to help and promote the Palestinian cause, whether by individuals or groups. Secondly, I appreciate the work of all those who strive to put this cause before the public eye. And thirdly, PSC has carried out these responsibilities more than adequately, and for that I owe them my help and gratitude. I urge everyone else who cares about the Palestinians to support PSC too.
Dr Ghada Karmi
John Austin MP
Labour MP for Erith and Thamesmead since 1997, member of the Commons Health Select Committee, with special interests in equal opportunities, race, human rights and foreign affairs. Joint Chair of CAABU, he has made several visits to Palestine, and frequently criticises Israel’s policy of colonisation and its violations of the Geneva Convention and UN resolutions as obstacles to the peace process.
Tony Benn
One of the longest serving serving MPs, representing Bristol South East and then Chesterfield for Labour, and former Cabinet Minister, Tony Benn has been described as 'unofficial conscience to the nation' He retired from his seat in the Commons in 2001 ‘to devote more time to politics’ which he believes must be based in grass-roots activism. He is President of the Stop the War Coalition.
Victoria Brittain
Former Associate Foreign Editor of the Guardian, to which she still contributes regularly, and at present Research Associate for the LSE’s ‘Crisis States Program’. She has written that ‘there is no excuse for not knowing the truth about what is happening to the Palestinians’. She presses for academic, cultural and commercial boycotts of Israel. She helped organise the 2008 Palestine Festival of Literature.
Barry Camfield
Former Deputy General Secretary of UNITE (TGWU) and member of the TUC General Council and Executive Committee. In 2005, he participated in the conference "Palestine, Israel and the Law" and, at the 2007 TGWU conference, argued successfully for the boycott of Israeli goods, calling on the government to show greater support for the Palestinian people.
Julie Christie
Oscar award-winning actor for her role in Darling (196), nominated for Best Actress in Away from Her (2007), known also for classics such as Dr Zhivago and Don’t Look Now and more recently Harry Potter and Troy. She has long been an active supporter of the Palestinian cause, being a signatory to the Cairo Declaration against war on Iraq and in solidarity with Palestine in 2002.
Caryl Churchill
A major playwright, she has won many awards, including the Obie Sustained Achievement Award in 2001. She worked with the radical theatre companies, Joint Stock and Monstrous Regiment during the 70s and 80s, during which she produced some of her best–known plays (Cloud Nine, Top Girls and Serious Money). In 2001 a performance of her play Far Away supported by the Royal Court raised funds for two Palestinian theatres.
Jeremy Corbyn MP
Jeremy Corbyn is Labour MP for Islington North and campaigns for human rights and justice. He is tireless in his support for Palestine, visiting Palestine with Parliamentary delegations, arranging meetings with MPs, and urging the government to take action to redress the injustices done to the Palestinians. He was a signatory to the 2002 Cairo Declaration (against the Iraq War, and for solidarity with Palestine) and regularly speaks at rallies.
Bob Crow
General Secretary of the RMT union after the merger of the NUR and NUS in 1990, Bob Crow was elected by a large majority of the RMT membership as General Secretary in 2002. A tough defender of workers’ rights and of the international union movement, he is a staunch supporter of the Palestinians and has been a patron of PSC for a number of years.
William Dalrymple
Internationally acclaimed writer and historian of the Middle East and India, winner of many prestigious prizes for his books and documentaries for radio and TV, he is Honorary Doctor of Letters at St Andrews University for ‘services to literature and international relations, to broadcasting and understanding’. In 'From the Holy Mountain', he wrote of his visit to a Palestinian village dominated by an Israeli settlement.
Revd Garth Hewitt
Singer/songwriter, Anglican priest, and director of the Amos Trust, an organisation committed to issues of justice, peace, development and human rights. He campaigns tirelessly for these values with his songs. Guild Vicar of All Hallows on The Wall in the City of London - a centre for organisations involved in issues of justice and art, he is also an Honorary Canon at St George's Cathedral, Jerusalem.
Dr Ghada Karmi
Vice-Chair of the Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU) and now Research Fellow at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at Exeter University, she has held posts at SOAS, Durham and Leeds universities. As Associate Fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs she led a major study on Palestinian/Israeli reconciliation and she has written extensively on the conflict. In 2007 she wrote Married to Another Man: Israel's Dilemma in Palestine.
Bruce Kent
Britain’s best known peace campaigner and former Chair, now Honorary Vice President, of CND, he has devoted himself to promoting a vision of the world in which war and poverty are abolished through argument and practical action. He has supported the case for justice for Palestine for many years and is a regular speaker. In 2002 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate for his life’s work for peace by Middlesex University.
Karma Nabulsi
Fellow in Politics at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, and university lecturer at Oxford University’s Department of Politics and International Relations. From 1977–90 she was a PLO representative at the United Nations, working in Beirut, Tunis, and the United Kingdom and, from 1991-1993, an advisory member of the Palestinian delegation to the peace talks in Washington. In her writings on Palestine she emphasises the centrality of the Palestinian refugee issue.
Dr Ilan Pappe
Born in Haifa, he was Senior Lecturer at Haifa University and held the chair of the Emil Touma Institute for Palestinian Studies in Israel. Now Professor of History at Exeter University. He is well known for his resolutely anti-Zionist stance and his analysis of Israeli policies as essentially colonialist and racist. His most recent book, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine documents the planning and execution of the process from its pre-1948 beginnings to the present day.
Keith Sonnet
Deputy General Secretary of UK’s public service workers’ union UNISON, Keith Sonnet has been particularly active in pressing for the boycott of Israeli goods by trades unions. A member of the TUC delegation to Israel and Palestine in 2003, he has since taken the issue to the international stage, believing that the union movement has a major role to play in resolving the conflict.
Ahdaf Soueif
Egyptian-born novelist, journalist and political commentator, her literary work has generated international acclaim, her novel The Map of Love being shortlisted for the Booker prize in 1999. An organiser of the May 2008 Palestine Festival of Literature and wrote a moving account of the group’s experience for the Guardian. She has lectured and written frequently on Palestinian issues. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a patron of Index on Censorship.
Baroness Tonge of Kew
Jenny Tonge was Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on International Development for seven years when she was in the House of Commons and is now their Spokesperson for Health in the Lords. She has described Israel as a racist and apartheid state. She calls for the suspension of the EU/Israel Association Trade Agreement and for academic and medical boycotts to make Israel comply with international law.
Dr Antoine Zahlan
Professor of Physics at the American University of Beirut, he is an eminent academic and consultant on science and techology policies, specialising in the promotion of appropriate policies in the Arab world. He has published articles and books, some on Palestinian issues such as education, and the need for ‘A Vision of Independence’ if Palestine is to benefit from scientific and technological advances. A trustee of the Center for Arab Unity Studies.
Benjamin Zephaniah
Jamaican-born poet, playwright and novelist, he was offered, but declined an OBE for his ‘services to literature’ in 2003. He has produced several collections of poetry, many with a powerful political thrust. His plays for stage, TV and radio have won BBC and Commission for Racial Equality awards. Rasta in Palestine, poems and travelogue, sprang from his experience of staying with both an Israeli and a Palestinian family, in Tel Aviv and Gaza, which opened his eyes to the vast disparity in living conditions, and convinced him of the necessity of Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories.