Joan Ryan has urged the Prime Minister to “think again” after he rejected her call for an independent review into how Britain’s aid money is spent in Israel-Palestine. In February, LFI’s Chair wrote to David Cameron raising her concerns about the Palestinian Authority’s role in inciting the current wave of Read more…
Calling Israel an “apartheid state” is a barrier to peace by Ian Austin MP for LabourList. This article is available here It’s extraordinary to think it’s been 25 years since millions of us sat transfixed by live footage of Nelson Mandela walking to freedom. As a teenager, I’d marched against Read more…
Click here for the original letter to Cameron on PA funding. Article by Sandy Rashty for the Jewish Chronicle. Article available here British taxpayers’ money cannot be used to provide a “blank cheque” to the Palestinian Authority, a Labour MP has said. Joan Ryan, Labour Friends of Israel chair, said she Read more…
Click here to read the original letter Read the JC’s article here Dear Grahame, I believe that you are planning to host an event in parliament next Tuesday, which Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East are promoting, at which Abdel Bari Atwan will be the moderator. I am Read more…
Following a recent trip to Israel and the Palestinian Territories as part of the Australian Israel UK Leadership Dialogue last month, Ian Austin, Labour MP for Dudley North, wrote to Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond to ask him to support Middle East Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow (MEET), an organisation that helps Palestinians Read more…
LFI chair Joan Ryan this week urged the government to pressure the Palestinian Authority to put an end incitement to violence. At questions to the Secretary of Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on Tuesday, Joan Ryan asked the Minister for the Middle East, Tobias Ellwood MP: “On new year’s day, Nashat Melhem Read more…
This article was originally published in the Jewish News: http://www.jewishnews.co.uk/opinion-hilary-benn-ive-seen-two-possible-futures-for-the-israelis-and-palestinians/ Last week I visited the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel. It was my third trip to a region I first visited more than a decade ago. The aim was simply to hear, to see and to learn more from people Read more…
Rt Hon Joan Ryan MP Speech to LFI Annual Lunch 17th November 2015 Chief Rabbi, Deputy Ambassador, friends. I want to begin today by thanking you all for being here. The responsibility of supporters of Israel in the Labour Party has become even more important since we last met in Read more…
Check against delivery Annual Lunch 17th November 2015 Keynote speech by Guest of Honour Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP Shadow Foreign Secretary Sir David, Chief Rabbi, parliamentary colleagues, ladies and gentlemen. Shalom. Can I first of all apologise profusely for being late. I do hope you will understand that I Read more…
This article was originally published in the JC: http://www.thejc.com/comment-and-debate/comment/148357/boycotts-are-misguided-0 Last week, I joined over 150 British artists and authors, including JK Rowling, Tom Holland and Simon Schama, in backing a new network promoting co-existence and dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians. This was about saying that rather than boycotts, it is dialogue Read more…
LFI chair Joan Ryan was in Israel this week, reaffirming Labour’s strong ties to its sister party. Meeting Labor chairman Isaac Herzog at the Knesset, she expressed her intention to bring more Labour MPs to Israel over the next year. “In my experience, it is the way to ensure MPs Read more…
Dear David, I am writing to you about the terrible violence which is currently engulfing Israel. The brutal attacks on Israeli civilians are without justification and I would ask that you convey to the Israeli government that the British people stand with the people of Israel at this most difficult Read more…