Monday, 18th June 2007

International Development Secretary Hilary Benn MP was among the speakers debating Tony Klug's new Fabian freethinking paper How Peace Broke Out in the Middle East: A Short History of the Future.

Benn spoke alongside Yossi Mekelberg of Chatham House and Atallah Said of the Arab Labour Group. The paper is generating an extraordinary response from a wide range of commentators, academics and government and civil society voices in the UK, Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

Commentators from the UK, Israel and the Palestinian Territories have already acclaimed the paper:

"A brilliant idea and a dream that is not beyond reach. The conditions are ripe - what is lacking is the political will and leadership" - Professor Shlomo Ben-Ami, Former Israeli Foreign Minister.

"Tony Klug offers us a tantalizing vision of what could be. It may not happen but, if it does, this is how it will unfold" - Dr Ahmad Samih Khalidi, Former Palestinian negotiator and Senior Associate Member, St Antonys College, Oxford.

Full text of the speech here.

This event was held in association with the Young Fabians and the Foreign Policy Centre.

The event was held in the Grand Committee Room of the House of Commons on Monday 18th June at 6.00pm.

For media enquiries contact Tim Gore.