LFI have been visiting Israel and the Palestinian territories this week with a delegation of Labour MPs. Tom Watson, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, led the delegation alongside fellow MPs Rosie Winterton, Gloria De Piero, Michael Dugher and Ruth Smeeth. The delegation included tours of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Read more…
Israeli and Palestinian leaders reacted to Trump’s victory with the procedural congratulations offered to an American President-elect. Prime Minister Netanyahu called the Republican ‘a true friend of the State of Israel’, whilst President Rivlin, addressing Trump, said Israel ‘stands by you as your friend and partner’. Isaac Herzog, leader of Read more…
Mahmoud Abbas has been courting controversial company over the past two weeks. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani and Hamas leaders Khaled Mashal and Ismail Haniyeh have all recently held meetings with the Fatah and Palestinian Authority (PA) leader. The meetings are unusual Read more…
This story originally apeared in the Jewish Chronicle, click here to view it. The chair of Labour Friends of Israel will visit the United States to seek support for a new campaign aiming to bring Israeli and Palestinian communities together in co-existence projects. Joan Ryan will meet American politicians to Read more…
Labour Friends of Israel have launched our new campaign, ‘For Israel, For Palestine, For Peace’. The campaign aims to persuade the British government to support the creation of an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace. The $200m fund has been designed by the Alliance for Middle East Peace to boost spending Read more…
This interview first appeared on Children of Peace. Click here to view the original. In the latest of her regular series of exclusive interviews Professor Sarah Brown talks to Joan Ryan MP, Chair of Labour Friends of Israel (in the UK parliament). Sarah Brown: Can you tell us a little Read more…
This afternoon in Parliament, LFI launched its new campaign to increase funding of coexistence projects entitled ‘For Israel, For Palestine, For Peace’. The campaign aims to persuade the British government to support the creation of an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace; a fund designed by the Alliance for Middle East Read more…
This blog by LFI Parliamentary Supporter Ian Austin MP first appeared on JewishNews. Trite comparisons between Northern Ireland and the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians, which ignore the very different actors, histories and complexities of the two situations, are commonplace. However, there is one lesson from the experience of Read more…
Commenting on reports about the suspension of funding to the PA in today’s Sun, Ian Austin MP, LFI parliamentary supporter, said: “British aid has a key role to play in supporting the alleviation of poverty and economic development and the promotion of peace and coexistence in Palestine. Those goals are, Read more…
Leaders from across the world gathered in Jerusalem today for the funeral of Shimon Peres. Prime Minister Netanyahu, President Obama, former President Bill Clinton, and Amos Oz all paid tribute to the former Israeli Prime Minister and President. British dignitaries present at the funeral included Prince Charles, David Cameron, Tony Read more…
This story originally appeared in the Jewish Chronicle. The Labour Friends of Israel group has trebled the number of Parliamentary supporters backing its work, as moderate MPs rebelled against Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the party. More than 65 MPs have pledged to back the group – more than when Labour was Read more…
LFI Parliamentary Supporter has written to Secretary of State for International Development Priti Patel regarding the Memorandum of Understanding between the UK and Palestinian Authority that governs DFID’s aid to the PA. You can read the letter here.