FORMER British Ambassador to Israel Sir Andrew Burns is returning later this month to Wootton Courtenay, where he delivered a talk last autumn on Israel’s conflict with the terrorist Hamas group in Gaza.

This time, Sir Andrew, who is also a former UK Envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues and is a trustee of the charity Oasis of Peace-UK which works in a Palestinian-Israeli settlement, will introduce two other speakers.

They are Samah Salaime, who is co-director of educational institutes in the settlement Wahat al Salam/Neve Shalom, and Oasis of Peace-UK executive director Tal Arrowsmith

The two women will tell villagers more about life in the settlement in Israel where Jewish and Palestinian-Arab Israeli citizens live together in peace, harmony, and mutual respect, and how their experience shows a way to break the seemingly endless cycle of violence in the Middle East.

The talk is at 7.30 pm on Thursday, April 30, in Wootton Courtenay Village Hall.

Sir Andrew will also give a brief update for the audience on regional developments since his visit last October.

Free copies will also be available of ‘Palestinian-Jewish Youth Encounters at the School for Peace’.

More details about the settlement and its educational projects is available on the Oasis of Peace website, which also explains how people can support its work.

A spokesperson said: “Everybody is cordially invited to join us for this interesting and timely presentation.

“A retiring collection will be in aid of Oasis for Peace-UK.”

Sir Andrew’s previous visit coincided with a ceasefire being agreed between Israel and Hamas to bring to an end two years of conflict since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks which killed 1,200 people in Israel and saw 251 alive and dead people taken hostage.

Sir Andrew, who now lives on Exmoor, is currently chairman and strategy director of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.