This article first appeared in the Jewish Chronicle. Labour Friends of Israel chair concerned that British money is going to pay salaries of teachers working at schools named after terrorists On 11 March 1978, Dalal Mughrabi led a group of 11 fellow Palestinian and Lebanese militants ashore on a Tel Read more…
Likud transport minister Yisrael Katz voiced his support again last week for a new sea port on the Gaza coast, indicating continuing Israeli concern about the future of the Palestinian enclave. The idea has been proposed in various forms over the past five years, though Katz’ vision is particularly ambitious: Read more…
This week sees the return of Israel Apartheid Week (IAW) to campuses in the UK. The week long anti-Israel campaign originated in Toronto in 2005 and has since spread to dozens of cities around the world. Campus groups host a series of discussions, exhibitions, film viewings and publicity stunts, aiming Read more…
LFI chair Joan Ryan has welcomed the introduction of a new bill in the US Congress which raises the prospect of a significant boost to the international campaign to fund coexistence projects in Israel and Palestine. Congressmen Jeff Fortenberry and Joe Crowley introduced the bill in the US House of Representatives to Read more…
An unconventional joint press conference was held by American President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week. The new American administration, the president said, would be “working toward a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. The United States will encourage a peace and, really, a great Read more…
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week approved the construction and planning of 2551 housing units in the West Bank. The decision followed an earlier announcement approving 566 homes beyond the Green Line in Jerusalem. The announcement was met with noticeable silence from the Trump administration when the White House Read more…
Donald Trump’s ascendancy to the American Presidency has worried advocates of a two-state solution across the globe. A number of early proposals and statements have aligned the incoming Republican President with both sceptics and opponents of a two-state deal. Heavy criticism followed Trump’s appointment of bankruptcy lawyer David Freidman as Read more…
On Wednesday 18th January, Joan Ryan MP, Chair of Labour Friends of Israel, tabled a ten-minute rule bill entitled Promotion of Israeli-Palestinian Peace. The bill requires the Secretary of State to promote the establishment of an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace to support coexistence projects and civil society programmes. The Read more…
Six Labour MPs visited Jerusalem, Ramallah and Tel Aviv on an LFI delegation last week. Pat McFadden, Ian Lucas, Lillian Greenwood, Chris Leslie, Mike Gapes and Ian Austin took part in the five-day trip. The visit included meetings with Israeli lawmakers, a Palestinian minister, NGOs, coexistence projects, security officials and Read more…
Open letter to Priti Patel in support of LFI’s ‘For Israel, For Palestine, For Peace’ Campaign Dear Secretary of State We write to ask you to support the creation of the International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace. As Britain found in Northern Ireland, broad popular support is an essential underpinning for Read more…
Ambassador Mark Regev Speech to LFI Annual Lunch 2016 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY Chief Rabbi, Deputy Leader Tom Watson, Lords and Ladies, Members of Parliament, Distinguished Guests, Friends of Israel, It is a pleasure being here this afternoon. I wish to start by thanking your Parliamentary Chair Joan Ryan MP, your Read more…
Rt Hon Joan Ryan MP, Chair, Labour Friends of Israel, speech to the LFI Annual Lunch 2016. CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY Chief Rabbi, Ambassador Regev, friends I want to begin by thanking you all for being here today. In particular, I want to thank Sir David Garrard and Isaac Kaye, our Read more…