Alastair Crooke (b. 1950) is a British diplomat, the founder and director of the Conflicts Forum. Previously he was a ranking figure in both British intelligence (MI6) and European Union diplomacy. Crooke was a Middle East advisor to Javier Solana (1997 - 2002), involved in the diplomatic efforts in the Siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, was a member of the Mitchell Committee into the causes of the 2000 Intifada, and held clandestine meetings with the Hamas leadership in June 2002. He is an active advocate of engagement with Hamas to whom which referred as "freedom fighters".