John Woodcock
John Woodcock is a Labour Party MP for Barrow and Furness. He was appointed chair of Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) in May 2011.
He is a shadow minister for transport and previously worked as an aide to John Hutton and as a special adviser to Gordon Brown during his premiership and according to the Jewish Chronicle, he is 'seen as a rising star of the Labour Party'.[1]
Labour Friends of Israel
Woodcock has described how he visited Israel for the first time as a student and said:
- That experience transformed my understanding of this region. I saw that Israel is a country that embodies the same values we strive for in the UK.[2]
He became a vice-chair of LFI in September 2010 and was appointed chair in May 2011 following the death of previous chair David Cairns.
On his appointment, he said:
- It is a tremendous honour to become chair of LFI and a big responsibility at such a difficult time for the Middle East peace process. I am taking over in sad circumstances after the death of David – my friend and a great friend of Israel over many years. I am determined to honour David's memory by taking forward his great passions: making the case for a two-state solution as the only route to lasting peace, and celebrating this great nation which is rooted in the progressive liberal values we all hold dear.
LFI director Jennifer Gerber described him as 'a vocal and committed friend of Israel'.[3]
Planting trees with the JNF
In October 2011, Woodcock led a delegation of eight MPs from LFI on a trip to Israel in which the group planted trees in memory of David Cairns in the Aminadav forest, established by the Jewish National Fund, an organisation accused in a parliamentary EDM of 'ongoing illegal expropriation of Palestinian land, concealing of destroyed Palestinian villages beneath parks and forests, and prevention of refugees from returning to their homes' as well as being 'explicitly discriminatory by stating that land and property will never be rented, leased or sold to non-Jews'.[4][5]
Affiliations
Notes
- ↑ Marcus Dysch, Labour Friends of Israel name new chair, Jewish Chronicle, 5 July 2011, accessed 25 October 2012
- ↑ UK MPs Plant Tree in Memory of David Cairns, Former LFI Chairman, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael - Jewish National Fund, 9 October 2011, accessed 25 October 2012
- ↑ Marcus Dysch, Labour Friends of Israel name new chair, Jewish Chronicle, 5 July 2011, accessed 25 October 2012
- ↑ UK MPs Plant Tree in Memory of David Cairns, Former LFI Chairman, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael - Jewish National Fund, 9 October 2011, accessed 25 October 2012
- ↑ Early day motion 1677, Parliamentary Business, accessed 25 October 2012
