In a House of Commons debate yesterday on Israel-Palestinian peace talks, LFI parliamentary supporters challenged the government on its cuts to co-existence funding, pushed our campaign for an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace and highlighted the barriers to peace, including PA incitement and terrorism. LFI chair Joan Ryan urged the government to “reverse their elimination of Read more…
LFI’s campaign in support of the establishment of an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace received a major boost this week with the endorsement of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council. In a joint statement backing the Fund, which aims to provide much-needed funding for coexistence Read more…
Ten years ago this month, Hamas executed a brutal takeover of Gaza, one that saw the terrorist group murder its political opponents and impose an Islamist regime on the poverty-stricken enclave. On three occasions since, most recently in 2014, the group has provoked bloody conflicts with Israel after sustained attacks Read more…
There are few better examples of the yawning gap between Donald Trump’s campaign rhetoric and governing reality than his approach towards Israel. After eight years of Barack Obama’s alleged cool indifference, the Israeli right were led to believe they would have a “true friend” in the White House once again: one who would Read more…
Donald Trump’s quixotic attempt to broker what he once he termed the “ultimate deal” – a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians – bore its first tentative signs of success this week when President Mahmoud Abbas indicated he was prepared to begin talks with Benjamin Netanyahu. The Palestinian president’s announcement came Read more…
Iain McNicol, general secretary of the Labour party, travelled to Israel this week with Labour Friends of Israel. The three-day trip included laying a wreath at Yad Vashem; meeting with Israeli Labor MKs Hilik Bar and Michal Biran and the party’s new general secretary, Eran Hermoni; visiting a Jerusalem coexistence 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…
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…