Convening discussions with Dr Mustafa Barghouti and key British figures in London, June 2025
From 24-29 June, we facilitated an important visit by Dr Mustafa Barghouti, General Secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative (PNI) and head of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS), and Bahia Amra, Director of Programmes and External Relations at PMRS, to London for strategic meetings with key decision-makers and experts.
Dr Barghouti is an influential independent voice in Palestine. With a medical background as a physician, he co-founded the PMRS which delivers healthcare services across the occupied Palestinian territories. He established the PNI in 2002, a political movement focused on democratic reform and national unity, and also ran in the 2005 Palestinian presidential election, coming second to President Mahmoud Abbas.
The visit to London provided a timely opportunity for Dr Barghouti to share his assessment of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the West Bank, and to offer recommendations for how British leaders can respond in ways that effect real change on the ground.
In discussion with a cross-party group of parliamentarians in the House of Lords.
House of Lords and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Dr Barghouti met with a senior group of cross-party parliamentarians and members of Forward Thinking’s Fellows Programme, in the House of Lords at a meeting hosted by Baroness Morris.
The event allowed British parliamentarians to hear an update on the health situation on the ground, and to pose questions about how the British government can best support an end to the conflict and a long-term, lasting peace in the region. A meeting at the FCDO enabled Dr Barghouti to discuss the British government response further with senior foreign ministry officials.
Health, legal, and education experts
We convened a session, hosted by Reed Smith LLP, to allow Dr Barghouti to engage health, legal, and education experts from our network, who have been supporting our work on a voluntary basis. The session was an opportunity for Dr Barghouti to focus on the health impact of the conflict in Gaza, the disruption to education across the occupied territories, and the need to develop a legal system capable of addressing the destruction of courts and records, while maintaining trust and fairness for all Palestinians.
Dr Barghouti meets with members of our Fellows Programme in Parliament.
Diplomats and humanitarian organisations
In a meeting with current and former diplomats and humanitarian aid organisations, Dr Barghouti emphasised the need for a unified European voice calling for an end to the conflict, and a unified Palestinian voice with which the international community can engage.
British Muslim community leaders
At a gathering organised by Forward Thinking, the Cordoba Foundation, and the Muslim Council of Britain at Finsbury Park Mosque, Dr Barghouti met a diverse group of Muslim leaders representing a wide cross-section of British Muslim communities. After hearing Dr Barghouti’s assessment of developments on the ground, they shared their perspectives on the impact of the conflict on their communities and a concerning international trend of growing Islamophobia.