LFI chair Joan Ryan MP welcomed the announcement of a new UK aid programme to support Palestinian economic development in Gaza and the West Bank. She said “the humanitarian situation for the people of Gaza is particularly desperate and deeply concerning, with electricity supplies highly restricted; water and sewage facilities Read more…
Donald Trump’s hope of pulling off the “ultimate deal” – an end to the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians – appears to be more distant than ever, with US media reporting a significant downgrading of the US effort. This week the Washington Post suggested that, with the American Middle East peace Read more…
Labour Friends of Israel is stepping up its campaign to pressure the government to act over incitement in the Palestinian education system. LFI chair Joan Ryan secured a parliamentary debate on the matter, held this week in Westminster Hall. Opening her speech, Ms Ryan said: “Given Britain’s long-standing advocacy of Read more…
Following a sustained campaign from LFI, Foreign Office Minister, Alistair Burt, announced that the government will be conducting a review into the PA’s new curriculum. The announcement came in a letter from Alistair to LFI chair Joan Ryan and LFI parliamentary supporter Ian Austin. Commenting on the announcement of a 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…
LFI chair Joan Ryan MP has written to Jeremy Corbyn MP regarding his comments in Jordan on the “right to return”. You can read the letter here.
When Prince William arrives in Israel next week, it will be the first official royal visit to the country in the Jewish state’s 70-year history. The visit will underline the growing bond between Britain and Israel, and help put to bed historical strains in relations between the two countries. It is believed Read more…
Seven Labour parliamentarians toured Israel and the Palestinian territories this week on a delegation run by Labour Friends of Israel. LFI parliamentary chair Joan Ryan led the delegation, and she was joined by MPs Louise Ellman, Andrew Gwynne, Stephen Morgan, Sharon Hodgson, and Jonathan Reynolds, as well as Lord Roy Kennedy. The delegation Read more…
Last week’s tragic events on the Gaza border underline the need for urgent action to address the plight of the Palestinian people. Earlier this year, LFI launched a Pledge for Gaza. It promotes a multifaceted approach, one with political, diplomatic and economic strands. The pledge recognises the suffering of the people Read more…
This post, by LFI Director Jennifer Gerber, first appeared on Progress Simple narratives that seek to cast all the blame of the Gaza conflict on one side are as naive as they are unhelpful to the cause of peace, writes Labour Friends of Israel’s Jennifer Gerber On Tuesday Labour Friends 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…
Mahmoud Abbas claimed on Monday that the behaviour of Jews was responsible for the Holocaust – the latest example of the antisemitism regularly perpetrated by the president and the Palestinian Authority. Addressing the Palestinian National Council in Ramallah, Abbas said Hitler’s murder of six million Jews was not caused by antisemitism Read more…