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LFI Annual Lunch 2015 – Keynote speech by Guest of Honour, Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP, Shadow Foreign Secretary

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 have come…

Boycotts are misguided – by Michael Dugher MP, Vice Chair of LFI

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 and interaction that will promote greater understanding…

LFI Chair Joan Ryan MP – fact-finding trip to Israel – October 2015

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 can best attain a balanced…

Labour Party Conference 2015: Controversy over Corbyn’s LFI reception speech: fails to mention Israel

Jeremy Corbyn caused controversy on Tuesday night when he failed to mention the word “Israel” in his address to LFI’s annual party conference reception. At the end of the Labour leader’s eight-minute speech – in which he defended the vote to recognise Palestine last October and called for the lifting of the “siege of Gaza” –…

‘It’s time for an open and frank dialogue’ by Joan Ryan MP, Chair of LFI

Over the coming weeks and months, I intend to begin an open and frank dialogue with Labour’s new leadership. On behalf of LFI’s supporters, I want to do three things. First, we will make clear to Jeremy Corbyn why some are deeply concerned about statements he has made regarding Israel,…

Tonight’s hustings could begin to rebuild the bridges between Labour and the Jewish community, by Jennifer Gerber, Director of LFI

This article was published by LabourList on 20 July 2015 and is available here: http://labourlist.org/2015/07/tonights-hustings-could-begin-to-rebuild-the-bridges-between-labour-and-the-jewish-community/ Tonight’s hustings could begin to rebuild the bridges between Labour and the Jewish community Among the many depressing moments on election night was the result from Hendon. Number three seat on Labour’s target list, it required only a 0.2 per cent…

Why Labour lost the community’s support, and how we’ll try to win it back- by Jennifer Gerber, Director of LFI

Hendon was the number three seat on Labour’s target list going into last week’s general election. But, despite needing a swing of only 0.2 per cent, Andrew Dismore, the unimpeachably pro-Israel former Labour MP who represented the seat prior to 2010, was defeated. A similar sad story was repeated…

LFI vice chair ,Michael Dugher MP, gives keynote speech at ‘We Believe in Israel’ conference

Chief Rabbi, my Lords, Ladies and Gentleman. Thank you for inviting me here this morning. It’s great to see so many old friends. To meet new friends. It’s also good to be here with Michael Gove.  We sit on opposite benches of the House of Commons. In the forthcoming general election you will hear about the many things that…

The British left needs to be a bridge between progressives- by Jennifer Gerber, Director of LFI

Published by Progress on 19 March In its early days, many people on the British left offered the young, embattled state of Israel their staunch support: Harold Wilson, Ian Mikado, Barbara Castle, Richard Crossman and Eric Heffer were all early supporters of Labour Friends of Israel. That support stemmed not simply from…