John Strawson

British legal academic; former Zionist Federation director; chair of Hashomer Hatzair UK

John Strawson
Born	May 1948
Nationality	British
Occupation	Legal academic
Known for	Former director of the Zionist Federation of the United Kingdom and Ireland; chair of Hashomer Hatzair UK; work on the Palestinian–Israeli conflict

John Strawson (born May 1948; also recorded as John Laurens Strawson) is a British legal academic. He was one of the first two directors of Zionists UK Limited, the company which trades as the Zionist Federation of the United Kingdom and Ireland (ZF), from the company's incorporation on 2 April 2025 until he resigned on 4 June 2026. The ZF website listed him as the board member responsible for governance, and the Jewish Chronicle later described him as a representative of Meretz among the outgoing directors. He is chair of the Hashomer Hatzair charitable trust in the UK and is listed as a fellow or associate of the London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism.

Companies House records his nationality as British and his month and year of birth as May 1948, on both the ZF officer record in the name "John Strawson" and the Hashomer Hatzair director record in the name "John Laurens Strawson". Existing Powerbase pages have used the red-link title John Laurens Strawson (trustee, Hashomer Hatzair); that title is a proposed redirect to this page.

Academic work

The London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism describes Strawson as Professor Emeritus of Law at the University of East London, working "at the intersection between law and Middle East studies with special interests in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Islamic legal studies and postcolonialism." It says he has been a visiting lecturer at the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, a visiting professor at Birzeit University in Palestine, and a visiting professor of law at the International Islamic University Malaysia, and that he is an advisory editor of Fathom journal. It lists his publications as including Partitioning Palestine: Legal Fundamentalism in the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict (2010), Law after Ground Zero (editor, 2002) and Injustice, Memory and Faith in Human Rights (co-editor, 2018).

Hashomer Hatzair UK's about page, last updated in 2021, instead called him Reader Emeritus in Law and Middle East Studies at the University of East London, and said he was chair of the international advisory committee of the university's Centre on Human Rights in Conflict. It gave the dates of the Birzeit visiting post as 1996–2006 and of the Malaysian visiting post as 2007, and said he was coordinator of a University of East London LLB programme in Haifa in 1999–2001. This draft records both titles as their sources give them.

Hashomer Hatzair and Meretz

Strawson is chair of Hashomer Hatzair UK (charity 1159336, company 08978316). He has been a director and the company secretary of the present company since 4 April 2014. The charity's about page says he has been a trustee since 1999, a date which would refer to a predecessor body, and that he chairs the scholarship committee. It says he has "had a long-term interest in and commitment to the peace and reconciliation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict."

The Jewish Chronicle described him as a Meretz representative on the outgoing ZF board. The Powerbase page for Engage records a mid-2000s comment, originally published on WW4 Report, that Strawson had "ran for a seat on the World Zionist Congress under the banner of Meretz." He is also listed among the names on the Powerbase page for Unite Against Terror.

Zionist Federation

Strawson and Rabbi Lea Mühlstein were the first two directors of Zionists UK Limited when it was incorporated on 2 April 2025, and were then persons with significant control, each recorded as holding more than 25 per cent but not more than 50 per cent of the voting rights. Strawson's control was notified on 2 April 2025 and ceased on 4 June 2026, the day he resigned as a director — four months before the October 2026 board election. The Jewish Chronicle of 12 October 2026 nevertheless named him among "a group of five directors" in the outgoing leadership.

Companies House appointments

Company	Company no.	Role	Status	Appointed	Resigned	Source
Zionists UK Limited	16362332	Director	Resigned	2 April 2025	4 June 2026
Hashomer Hatzair	08978316	Director	Active	4 April 2014	–
Hashomer Hatzair	08978316	Secretary	Active	4 April 2014	–

The ZF appointment is recorded under the officer ID for "John Strawson". The Hashomer appointments are recorded under separate officer IDs for "John Laurens Strawson". The director record gives the same month and year of birth, May 1948.

See also

• Zionist Federation of the United Kingdom and Ireland
• Hashomer Hatzair (UK charity)
• London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism