For the third annual W.M. Watt Lecture, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies (IMES) is delighted to be joined by Professor Nur Masalha, a Palestinian historian and former Director of the Centre for Religion and History at St. Mary's University, London.

The lecture, ‘Powerful Symbols and the British-Zionist Alliance: From Balfour to the Nakba’, will coincide with the centenary of the publication of the Balfour Declaration, the historic letter of the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Arthur Balfour, to Lord Rothschild announcing that the British government ‘view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people’.

Balfour has a close personal connection with the city and University of Edinburgh. Born at Whittingehame House, the family seat in East Lothian, he served as Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh for almost forty years (1891-1930).

https://www.ed.ac.uk/literatures-languages-cultures/events/events-archive/w-m-watt-annual-lecture-20...