Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry returned to Britain this week after visiting Israel with LFI. During a four-day trip to Israel and the West Bank, she was accompanied by the shadow minister for peace and disarmament Fabian Hamilton. Ms Thornberry met with the new leader of the Israeli Labor party, Read more…
LFI chair Joan Ryan MP’s speech to the Knesset Conference: ‘Centenary of the Balfour Declaration: Historical Context, Contemporary Implications’ CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY Thank you, Avi, for inviting me to be with you today at this special event to celebrate the centenary of the Balfour Declaration. It is a huge honour Read more…
Labour MPs hailed Britain’s contribution to the creation of the State of Israel in a Westminster Hall parliamentary debate this week. MPs were debating the 1917 Balfour Declaration, when Britain declared its support for the establishment of a Jewish national homeland in the land of Israel, ahead of its 100th anniversary 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…
Labour should stand by its friends on the Israeli left, Labor MK Stav Shaffir told a packed LFI reception on Tuesday night. Ms Shaffir, a rising star in the Israeli Labor party, was in Brighton for the Labour party’s annual conference. “When sister-parties turn their backs at the progressive camp, they Read more…
LFI’s chair, Joan Ryan, has today written to the Prime Minister regarding the situation at the Temple Mount. In her letter, she details evidence of incitement perpetrated by the Palestinian Authority over the past 10 days, and writes: “While President Abbas initially condemned the terrorist attack on the Temple Mount, the PA and his political party, Read more…
The government yesterday announced a huge boost for UK support for coexistence funding in a major victory for LFI’s longstanding campaign on the issue. The Department for International Development has pledged up to £3 million for the next three years to support people-to-people projects which bring Israelis and Palestinians together. UK support Read more…
This article was originally posted on the Jewish Chronicle. Click here to read the original. A government minister has cast doubt on the likelihood of a ban being imposed on Hezbollah’s terrorist wing in Britain. Nick Hurd, the Police Minister, told a Labour MP who raised concerns about the Al Read more…
In a House of Commons debate yesterday on Israel-Palestinian peace talks, LFI parliamentary supporters challenged the government on its cuts to co-existence funding, pushed our campaign for an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace and highlighted the barriers to peace, including PA incitement and terrorism. LFI chair Joan Ryan urged the government to “reverse their elimination of Read more…
LFI’s campaign in support of the establishment of an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace received a major boost this week with the endorsement of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council. In a joint statement backing the Fund, which aims to provide much-needed funding for coexistence Read more…
LFI vice-chair Louise Ellman is pressing for answers on how Hezbollah flags came to be flying in the centre of London last weekend and taking action to help ensure it never happens again. She has written to the home secretary, Amber Rudd, asking her to use powers under the Terrorism Act Read more…
This article first appeared in the Jewish Chronicle. Please click here to view it. Labour’s performance in the general election was better than many had expected. That clearly presents a huge challenge to Theresa May, but that should not detract from the problems which Labour still has to confront. The party secured some stunning victories on Thursday and the Read more…