Ordinary Gazans oppose the bloody, Hamas-led weekly border protests and want a ceasefire with Israel, newly released polling shows. The research – carried out among representative samples of approximately 500 randomly selected Gazans during early October by the Bethlehem-based Palestine Centre for Public Opinion and by a Ramallah-based organisation – shows the conflict-weary Read more…
The “machineries of repression” utilised by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas to crush their opponents and silence dissenters has been detailed in a shocking new report by Human Rights Watch. A two-year investigation by HRW, Two Authorities, One Way, Zero Dissent, accuses both the PA, which runs the West Bank, and Read more…
Jeremy Corbyn’s past links with Hamas have come under intense scrutiny this week, as the fallout from Labour’s failure to adopt the full International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-semitism continues. On Monday, it was revealed that the Labour leader had chaired a panel at a conference in Doha in Read more…
Israeli communities close to the border with Gaza have endured nearly three months of “kite terror” attacks launched from the coastal enclave. Kites, balloons and condoms laden with a metal pouch containing flammable substances such as burning coal or rags soaked with oil are able to drift across the border Read more…
This blog by Joan Ryan MP, parliamentary chair of Labour Friends of Israel, was originally posted on Times of Israel The terrible and shocking events in Gaza yesterday require urgent and immediate action to end the cycle of violence and address the plight of its people. Like any other country, Read more…
Sixteen Palestinians – eleven of whom were known members of terror organisations – died during clashes on the border between Gaza and Israel on Friday. The clashes took place in the context of a series of protests at the Gaza border, calling for the fulfilment of the Palestinian ‘right of Read more…
This op-ed by Joan Ryan first appeared in the JewishNews, click here to read it. The humanitarian situation in Gaza is desperate and deeply concerning. Electricity supplies are highly restricted; water and sewage facilities are under strain; rising unemployment has hit 40 percent, with an estimated six in 10 young Read more…
LFI today launches our new Pledge for Gaza campaign – part of our long-standing work to encourage the economic revitalisation of the coastal enclave. We will be inviting Labour parliamentarians to sign the five-point plan. It seeks to provide a multifaceted response to the challenges facing Gaza. The pledge recognises the plight of the Read more…
*** CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY *** HMA Mark Regev, Israeli Ambassador, speech to Labour Friends of Israel Annual Lunch 2017 Chief Rabbi, Lords and Ladies, Members of Parliament, Distinguished guests, It is a real pleasure to be back here at Central Hall for LFI’s Annual Lunch. I would like to begin by Read more…
Rt Hon Joan Ryan MP, LFI chair, speech to Labour Friends of Israel Annual Lunch 2017 Chief Rabbi, Ambassador Regev, friends Thank you to all of you for being here today. In particular, I want to thank Sir David Garrard and Isaac Kaye, our long-standing lunch sponsors. I also want to Read more…
Joan Ryan MP, parliamentary chair of LFI, has written a reply to Richard Burden MP regarding a letter to Middle East minister Alistair Burt on the Gaza crisis. Ms Ryan writes that she shares Mr Burden’s concern for the humanitarian situation in the Gaza strip and agrees that the recent deterioration in Read more…
One week after its signing, the agreement reached between Hamas and Fatah last week – accompanied by pictures of handshakes between the two sides in Cairo and celebrations in the streets of Gaza – is already throwing up many unanswered questions. The deal formalised the previous agreement that the Palestinian Read more…