“An Insight into Hamas”

William Sieghart
Founder and Chairman, Forward Thinking, London, U.K.


Part of the Leadership & Political Change in the Middle East Seminar Series

William Sieghart is founder and chairman of Forward Thinking, a London-based NGO founded in 2003. Forward Thinking works with the leadership of all parties on both sides of the divide in the Israeli Palestinian conflict. In particular Forward Thinking has built a close relationship with the right-wing parties in the Israeli government coalition and with Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, the West Bank, Damascus and the diaspora.

Sieghart has had a distinguished career in publishing and the arts. He founded Forward Publishing in 1988, one of London’s leading magazine publishers. He was also the founder of the Forward Poetry Prizes, Britain’s largest prizes for poetry and National Poetry Day. For many years he was a member of the Arts Council and Chairman of its Lottery Committee. He is currently chairman of the Arts Foundation, Streetsmart – a homelessness charity he founded in 1998 - and Forward Arts Foundation. Sieghart is a trustee of the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, Free Word and Reprieve and sits on the advisory committee of the British Institute of Human Rights. In 2010 Sieghart founded his latest commercial venture Pencil Agency, a marketing agency based in London, which specializes in brand storytelling.

Sieghart is also a published author and a regular broadcaster.


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