Labour Friends of Israel held its biggest ever reception at Labour party conference in Liverpool this week. Over 400 delegates attended a packed event addressed by deputy leader Tom Watson, Israeli Labor MK Ayelet Nahmias-Verbin, Ambassador Mark Regev, and LFI chair Joan Ryan. In a stirring address, Mr Watson declared: “I Read more…
Following the Trump administration’s decision to end all funding for coexistence projects in Israel-Palestine, over 50 Labour MPs have written to DFID Secretary of State Penny Mordaunt to express their serious concern and to call on the UK to help fill the void. You can view a PDF of the Read more…
The Trump administration is to end US funding to coexistence programmes that bring Israelis and Palestinians together, it has emerged. The US currently provides $10m for the projects – one quarter of the money invested globally in civil society peace and reconciliation work between Israelis and Palestinians. The American move is 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…
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.
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…
On the 14th May, 1948, on the termination of the British Mandate, Israel declared its independence. As the Jewish state celebrates its seventieth anniversary, here are seven defining moments in the history of the reborn Jewish state. 1948 – Israel’s War of Independence The Jewish Agency, pre-state Israel’s government-in-waiting, accepting Read more…
President Trump’s long-awaited Middle East plan is close to completion, according to reports in the US media last weekend. The timing of its release is not yet confirmed and details of its contents are highly guarded. However, the president’s enthusiasm for negotiating the “ultimate deal” – a peace agreement which brings an Read more…
This op-ed by Joan Ryan first appeared in the JewishNews, click here to read it. The humanitarian situation in Gaza is desperate and deeply concerning. Electricity supplies are highly restricted; water and sewage facilities are under strain; rising unemployment has hit 40 percent, with an estimated six in 10 young Read more…