Following reports that the UK security services in 2015 foiled an plot by Hezbollah agents in the UK, LFI chair Joan Ryan has written to Home Secretary Sajid Javid expressing concern about the withholding of information about the plot from both the public and parliament. Until February of this year, Read more…
Labour Friends of Israel is launching ‘Speakers for a Two-State Solution’, a grassroots initiative for activists to lead discussions in the Labour party and centre-left groups about how to bring a peaceful end to the conflict in the Middle East. LFI is providing training and resources to ensure activists feel Read more…
LFI officers have written to the secretary of state for international development, Penny Mordaunt, to urge the UK government to urgently make funds available to support coexistence group MEET, Middle East Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow. MEET plays an essential role in bringing young Israelis and Palestinians together to foster peaceful dialogue. Read more…
Labour Friends of Israel was delighted to welcome Anshel Pfeffer to Parliament, to speak about the upcoming Israeli elections. Anshel Pfeffer is a leading Israeli Journalist, and currently writes for the Israeli daily Haaretz, the Economist and the Jewish Chronicle. He has also written for the Guardian and is often Read more…
The British government last week announced it was banning Hezbollah in its entirety in a major victory for LFI’s long-running campaign. Previously, only the military wing of the antisemitic terror group was proscribed in Britain. LFI chair Joan Ryan and vice-chair Dame Louise Ellman have led parliamentary efforts to ban Read more…
LFI chair, Joan Ryan MP, has today resigned from the Labour Party. Please see a below statement from LFI and from Joan Ryan MP: A statement from Labour Friends of Israel: “LFI respects the very difficult decision taken by MPs this week to leave the Labour Party, including that of Read more…
LFI chair Joan Ryan writes to Emily Thornberry in response to Emily’s letter to Jeremy Hunt on the situation in Syria. Joan states that Emily’s letter is “nothing short of a complete misreading of the facts” and that “in a dispute between the Middle East’s only democracy and a brutal Read more…
Joan Ryan MP has sent letters, to the Malaysian high commissioner and minister for sports, in protest at the country denying entry visas to Israeli swimmers to compete in this summer’s World Para Swimming Championships, a qualifying event for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games. You can view the letter Malaysian Read more…
LFI vice-chair Dame Louise Ellman MP has today presented a ten minute rule bill in parliament designed to stop the Palestinian Authority education system using British taxpayers’ money to fund a school curriculum which incites the murder of Israelis. Supported by a cross-party group of MPs, Dame Louise’s bill will Read more…
LFI vice-chair Dame Louise Ellman has secured a ten minute rule bill on the 8 January on the topic of incitement in the Palestinian Authority curriculum. Her bill will mandate that UK assistance to the Palestinian Authority education system must comply with international values of peace and tolerance. It will Read more…
This week, LFI, in partnership with CFI and the Israeli Embassy, hosted a special briefing in parliament to commemorate the plight of Jewish refugees from Arab countries and Iran. Ambassador Mark Regev and Board of Deputies vice-president Edwin Shuker spoke about the 850,000 Jewish refugees who were forced to flee Read more…
LFI’s chair Joan Ryan vowed to lead the fight against antisemitism in the Labour party “whatever the personal cost” in her speech to our annual lunch on Tuesday. In a strongly worded address, Ms Ryan also pledged to stand up to “the politics of hatred and division” and defend “the Read more…