ON PALESTINE, Jo Cox’s background and commitment came shining through.

For many new MPs Palestine is one of those issues that is an early challenge as to the type of MP you will be.

For many, over the years, the issue has been ducked and put in the “too difficult” tray and left to gather dust.

Not for Jo — her background in international development and campaigning gave her a clear framework.

A humanitarian framework based on human rights and the important role of aid and development as part of a solution she wanted to see “hopefully in the next few years.”

In recent months and years many MPs have stayed silent on Palestine, frightened of being labelled as anti-semitic, making a mistake on which they will be criticised and often feeling ignorant of the issues.

From day one, Palestine was on the list of issues on which Jo was prepared to put her head above the parapet and say what she thought.

I spoke on the same platform as her on a few occasions. The first and obvious fact was that she had something to say — she had thought about the issues.

She wasn’t reading from a carefully prepared script, the contributions were researched, fact-based and — in the best way — opinionated.

She was a friend and ally of Palestine, not frightened to have her own views. She passionately believed in helping bring about Palestinian unity, while having issues with both Fatah and Hamas.

She was prepared to challenge Labour Party orthodoxy, but with positive policy proposals.

Happy to work with the solidarity movement, while urging us to do more and do it better. Her approach was best seen in action on the issues she raised during her time in Parliament.

The daily pictures of Palestinian dead during the Israeli bombardment of Gaza in 2014 made it easy for MPs to appear on platforms and express real concern.

Once the publicity had gone away, Jo did not forget the issue but came back to it. Speaking in Parliament she challenged the government about what had been done to enable reconstruction, to allow freedom of movement and to use the International Criminal Court to investigate war crimes.

“I would love to hear what the government intend to do to support international mechanisms to pursue justice and accountability, particularly in relation to preliminary work by the International Criminal Court.”

She didn’t exclude Hamas from criticism, but highlighted the fact that Israel has a “lamentable track record in holding wrongdoers accountable.”

This was followed up by an article in a Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East pamphlet Making the Progressive Case for Peace in Palestine and Israel.

Using the World Bank report which said that Gaza would be uninhabitable by 2020, she set out six policy proposals — first and foremost to press for an end to the blockade of Gaza.

Not just calling for it, but listing seven steps that were needed, including opening up all crossings and urgently allowing free and unfettered access for goods.

“Israel is the only country in the world that systematically prosecutes children in military court and the differences between how Israeli children and Palestinian children are treated are stark.”

Speaking in a debate in Westminster Hall Jo, along with other MPs, highlighted the facts and effects of Israel’s actions.

The night detentions, the solitary confinement, the breaches of human rights such as the right to silence or representation.

But the most damning and effective point was her final one, based on a knowledge and understanding of the occupation of Palestine by Israel and international law.

“The issue of transferring detainees en masse from occupied territory is a very serious issue, and is, in fact, a war crime.

Yet monthly data released by the Israeli Prison Service shows that almost half of the detained Palestinian children from the West Bank are transferred to prisons inside Israel. This is a breach of the Geneva Convention.”

Palestine is often described as a difficult issue, hard to resolve — but next year it will be 50 years since Israel occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.

Jo saw that the humanitarian issues could not be resolved without dealing with this fundamental cause.

Traditionally Labour Party policy on Palestine has been one of caution, normally sitting within the comfortable orthodoxy of Foreign Office guidance.

Ed Miliband’s welcome step to support the call for Palestinian recognition was radical in the context of previous policy.

Calls for action, boycotts and sanctions — even of illegal settlement goods — have all been rejected.

In responding to the proposal from the government to ban local councils, public bodies and even some university student unions from boycotting “unethical” companies, she reported to her constituents that this could mean losing the freedom to refuse to buy goods and services from companies involved in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, the arms trade, fossil fuels, tobacco products and a range of other unsavoury activities.

“I believe that this is a gross attack on democratic freedoms. It is our right to boycott unethical companies. It should also be the right of local councils and public bodies that we have elected to make their own decisions, free of government control.”

This wasn’t a privately expressed view, she was consulting her constituents on the issue, as she had reported on Gaza and child prisoners.

International issues weren’t just something you did in Westminster, they were an important part of Jo’s global vision, they were an opportunity for education, debate and change — to make the world a better place.

Jo was part of the rising new generation of talented female Labour MPs — passionate and committed.

She had become an MP, not for a career, but for a purpose: to advance the causes she believed in.

Palestine was one of them. She was a bright star, who will be much missed by family, friends and colleagues. But her vision will not be dimmed, it will continue to shine for many years.

• Hugh Lanning is chair of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.