He continued: “LFI has always been where the strong moderate voices within the Labour Party have always been, and it's such an important caucus within the parliamentary party for making sure that the party is better in government than it is in opposition.”
“Every single day that we have Labour government is better than a single day in opposition. And LFI has always been at the centre of that”, he claimed.
Despite Labour suspending some arms sales to Israel, sanctioning Israeli ministers for the first time ever and the latest polling showing that most British Jews think the government has been too critical of Israel, Pearce offers a robust defence of his party’s track record in power.
Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer MP (left) with LFI chair Jon Pearce (Photo: Labour Friends of Israel)[Missing Credit]
“The government went out and proscribed Palestine Action. That was absolutely the right thing to do, but it was a difficult thing.”
“We've taken the steps to be able to change the law so that we can proscribe the IRGC which, again, is one of the most significant threats to the Jewish community in this country”, he added.
And he doesn’t accept Conservative criticisms that Labour hasn’t yet proscribed the group, despite pledging to do so in opposition – a promise he remains confident will be fulfilled.
Instead, Pearce accuses the Tories of wasting their 14 years in office without making such a move: “They talked about it but never made any progress on it. It's interesting now they sit there on the opposition benches asking us why we've not done it yet.”
But it was visit to Israel with LFI, along with several other Labour candidates who would later become MPs, that would have a huge impact on his time in Parliament .
Their visit to both Israel and the Palestinian territories in July 2023 also included a stop at Kibbutz Kfar Aza, which would be devastated by Hamas’ assault on southern Israel.
“When October 7 happened … those people that we met – the incredible tour guide that showed us round – worrying about her and her family and everyone we saw, it really, really hit home. The horrors have made it hugely personal to me.”
And the atrocities were truly the stuff of nightmares. Both of his guide’s parents were killed in the massacres. Her brother was only able to survive by hiding underneath the dead bodies of his mother and father.
“You can't imagine what so many families went through that day, and the suffering isn't going to stop until all of the hostages are home,” he went on. “It needs to come to an end so that people can have that closure and can really start to deal with the horrors. Whilst there's hostages there it just keeps it alive for so many of the families.”
The plight of the hostages is something Pearce has continued to champion in Parliament.
Jon Pearce MP (centre) with the family of Oz Daniel in Westminster (Image: Jon Pearce)[Missing Credit]
Prior to our interview, he had met the mother and the cousin of Oz Daniel, who was killed by Hamas and his remains abducted.
“They are desperate for his body to come home, and they won't have peace until he comes back”.
Pearce is keen to highlight that behind every hostage poster is a heartbreaking story of a life taken too soon: “He absolutely loved Guns N’ Roses. They showed us a fantastic video of him playing Guns N’ Roses songs and how he dressed up as Slash (the group’s guitarist).
"It's vital that we talk about those individuals. These are real people. There are real families that are suffering and still suffering we're not going to see an end to that suffering for those families until all of the hostages – whether they're dead or alive – are back home with their families.”
But the MP is also concerned about the antics of some of his parliamentary colleagues giving the impression that there’s “no sympathy” in Parliament to the plight of hostages or of Israelis affected by Hamas’ terrorism.
Although he insists that the actions of a vocal minority aren’t reflective of the opinions of the whole House – noting that only 26 MPs voted against the proscription of Palestine Action – he acknowledges that there is a desire for social media clickbait sensationalism by some colleagues when they talk about the conflict in Gaza.
“If you're trying to portray complex emotion and feeling and understanding, it's very difficult to do that in a question. Whereas, if you are just full of vitriol, then it's much easier to get your clip”, Pearce said.
The JC has previously reported that MPs – including Pearce’s Labour colleagues – spend much more time debating the Israel-Palestine conflict than they do most other foreign wars, and even domestic issues such as the NHS.
Pearce hit out at what he called the “pseudo imperialist” attitudes of some when it comes to the power they think they have in relation to the war in Gaza “that the UK just needs to click its fingers and it could end this”.
“And why is it not doing it? It's not within our power to decide the outcome of this conflict”, he added.
That is not to suggest that the UK should do nothing, he emphasised. Pearce was delighted when the prime minister announced backing for an international fund for Israeli-Palestinian peace, something for which LFI has long been campaigning, based on similar schemes that helped bring contribute to the Northern Ireland peace process.
Despite the vitriol and abuse he has suffered for his association with LFI, Pearce is undeterred: “Things are worth doing because they're hard”.
“The people that shout loudest in the chamber, the people that shout loudest online, they're not offering solutions. They are just offering division and hatred and attacks. What we try to do is to look at how can we make the situation better”, he added.
