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I dont think I’d trust some screenshot of some rando off twitter over wikipedia. Just at a glance nether Ed Miliband nor Miatta Fahnbulleh, nor Shabana Mahmoud are listed there.
Edit, neither is Andy Burnham! Kinda undercuts the whole thing.
What’s wrong with membership, looking at the wiki entry:
“LFI says it supports a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, with Israel recognised and secure within its borders, and the establishment of a viable Palestinian state.[2]”
I guess the problem is acknowledging Israel’s right to exist?
Why the hell should you be a friend with a genocial settler colonial power. Why there is dumb people who believe the same leaders sending weapons to israel to continue colonization and ethenic cleansing really believe in a two state?
It says that, in the same way that that the Reform Party say they’re not a party for Racists.
They appear, in practice and lobbying, to support the complete destruction of Palestine and its people.
They also appear, in practice and lobbying, to support and promote the idea that “anyone who insults Israel, in the UK, is actually anti-semetic and a terrorist” - which was one of Keir Starmer’s policies.
ZioNazi genocide of Palestinians is what’s wrong.
And Israel has no right to exist, it is stolen land that needs to be returned.
Israel has no right to exist, it is stolen land that needs to be returned
You could say that about nearly every country. Perhaps white people need to leave the US and Australia. Perhaps anybody with Anglo-Saxon genetics needs to leave the British Isles and return to the area around Germany and Denmark.
I think Israel’s current far-right government is terrible and has committed genocide, but I don’t think that means Israel needs to stop existing as a country altogether. Germany didn’t stop existing after WW2, although of course it was split into two parts.
I think some people don’t like the idea of an explicitly Jewish state existing, but if someone uses that logic, then surely they would have to also object to every explicitly Muslim state: Iran, Saudi Arabia, and so on.
Countries can be divided peacefully and merge peacefully so yeah israel do not have a right to exists just like any other country or state. A a two state is no longer possible because of israel was keeping creating new colonies so a new entity with all people having equal rights to be created
I take your point generally – at what point do you draw the line? I think there are significant differences though. The USA and Australia have been colonised for hundreds of years and still have ongoing debates around the rights of indigenous people. In Britain the Anglo-Saxons have been there for around 1500 years and even in that case there are still distinct national identities, languages and devolved powers.
Israel is less than 80 years old and is still actively importing colonists to occupy existing territories and expand further, all while enacting a genocide.
On the Jewish state question I just have to ask if you support explicitly ethno-nationalist states. For example do you support the UK or other European countries being “white” nations and all that this implies in terms of mass deportations and segregation?
Israel may be less than 80 years old but there have been Jewish people’s living in the region for millennia. They even predate Christians and Muslims.
Practically though once you start having multiple generations of people growing up in the area just deporting everyone becomes impossible. The state is ~10 million people. Where would they all go?
The solution has to be finding an accommodation that allows everyone in the area to live in peace. Or they can just keep trying to genocide each other and see how that works out but I think that’s just going to result in even more misery all round.
I’m not sure I’d describe a state with nearly 30% non-Jewish citizens as an ethnostate. Jews in other middle eastern states don’t often have the same rights as their fellow citizens.
Yes, there were native jews. From what I’ve read there was never a conflict there. The problem came when foreign jews came to settle explicitly to build a jewish state and supplant the local population. They do want an ethnostate. Look at the words and actions of people like Smotrich, Ben-Gvir or go even further back to Herzl, founder of zionism.
I do agree that it’s impractical and immoral to mass expel jews that have settled in Israel for a few generations now; those that are still settling could return to their countries of origin. I do also agree that the only just way forward has to include jews and Palestinians finding some peace living together. I can’t speak for the OP but when I hear the phrase “Israel doesn’t have a right to exist” this is what I understand. Whether you call it Israel, Palestine or something else it cannot continue to exist as a Jewish state. It should grant equal rights and respect to all its citizens. Getting there from where they are now will not be easy but we could start with addressing the international Israel lobby.
Do you think Rhodesia should have been allowed to continue existing?
In 2003, LFI described itself as “a Westminster based lobby group working within the British Labour Party to promote the State of Israel”.[5] It has been described as “less unquestioning in its support of the Israeli government than the Conservative Friends of Israel”.[6] Between 2001 and 2009, LFI sponsored more than 60 MPs to visit Israel, more than any other group.[6]
In early 2017, Al Jazeera released a four-part documentary entitled The Lobby, which investigated aspects of the Israel lobby in the United Kingdom, particularly relating to the Labour Party.[17] A member of Israeli embassy staff, Shai Masot, was recorded “plotting” to take down British MPs who favour recognition of a Palestinian state; links to the Labour Friends of Israel were put under the spotlight, including a reference to the availability of £1m from the Israeli government.[18][19]
In 2026, LFI was referred to the Electoral Commission over concerns about lack of transparency about funding sources[25]
Almost certainly funded by the Israeli government. I recommend watching The Lobby, a documentary series made by Al Jazeera that covers the Israel lobby in the UK, including LFI.
It’s not surprising. I guess we should also check who funds Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East while we are at it?
Absolutely. There should be very strong regulations on lobbying that, at a minimum, should include the disclosure of the sources of funding.
From my own research it seems LFI is funded by the Israeli state while LFPME seems to have no significant source of funding, relying on volunteers and having been driven in to the ground under Lisa Nandy’s stewardship. In fact, the domain linked from their wiki and twitter has expired. Admittedly I haven’t checked through their recent donations to MPs but if this is anything to go by I suspect it does not rival LFI’s.
I’m interested to know what your own research has yielded on the Palestine lobby?
“Whataboutism” or “whataboutery” (as in, “but what about X?”) refers to the propaganda strategy of responding to an accusation with a counter-accusation instead of offering an explanation or defense against the original accusation. It is an informal fallacy that the accused party uses to avoid accountability—whether attempting to distract by shifting the conversation’s focus away from their behaviour or attempting to justify themselves by pointing to the similar behaviour (which may be true or false, but irrelevant) of their opponent or another party who is not the current subject of discussion.[1]
Ultimately the fact the group is funded by Israel doesn’t make it automatically sinister. All of the various interests are lobbying MPs and as long as any donations are declared that’s fine. The stated policy seems reasonable. It’s not an exclusive group. Indeed a fair number of the MPs in this group are also in the friends of Palestine group as well. I assume most of those MPs want the same thing which is a solution that allows the region to have some much needed peace.
It does. A settler colonial genocidal state should not lobby in the uk to continue genocide and colonization
Careful, the government might arrest you for simply talking about this.
