Asked by: Lord Pickles (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the IMPACT-se review published in November which reports instances of incitement and antisemitism in the new Palestinian Authority school curriculum; and what are the implications for their policy regarding the Palestinian Authority.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer provided in the House of Commons on 18 November to Question 88033, which - for ease of reference - is reproduced below:
The Foreign Secretary met with the Palestinian Foreign Minister on 1 November. As part of their conversation they discussed educational reforms. The UK continues to monitor and advance the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding on strategic cooperation through an annual strategic dialogue. In the meantime, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, through the British Consulate in Jerusalem, engage regularly with the Palestinian Authority on many areas, including education reform.
Asked by: Lord Pickles (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with other donors to UNRWA and the Palestinian Authority regarding attaching conditionality to future funding linked to reforms.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer provided in the House of Commons on 18 November to Question 88033, which - for ease of reference - is reproduced below:
The Foreign Secretary met with the Palestinian Foreign Minister on 1 November. As part of their conversation they discussed educational reforms. The UK continues to monitor and advance the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding on strategic cooperation through an annual strategic dialogue. In the meantime, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, through the British Consulate in Jerusalem, engage regularly with the Palestinian Authority on many areas, including education reform.
Asked by: Lord Pickles (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to build consensus among international partners on halting the supply of arms to all parties funding, sheltering or supporting proscribed terrorist groups, including Hamas.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK is a signatory to the Arms Trade Treaty and fully implements its provisions. While the Treaty does not explicitly prohibit transfers to non-state actors, the UK considers that the requirements in Article 7 (Export and Export Assessment) and Article 11 (Diversion) require States Parties to take all appropriate steps to prevent the sale or diversion of arms to undesirable end uses or end users, including terrorist groups. Specifically, Article 7 deals with exports which would 'undermine peace and security' or could be used to breach international conventions or protocols relating to terrorism to which the exporting state is a party.
The Government will also not grant an export licence if to do so would be inconsistent with the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, which includes Criterion 1: respect for the UK's international obligations and commitments. An export licence will also be refused if there is a risk that the items will be diverted to an undesirable end-user or for an undesirable end-use, including to terrorist organisations.
Asked by: Lord Pickles (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications for the UK’s foreign policy of Israel’s claims to have discovered a Hamas intelligence command centre and terror tunnels beneath UNWRA’s Gaza headquarters.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK takes allegations of neutrality violations seriously including any incidents related to UN installations. This is something we monitor closely in our annual assessment of UNRWA. When violations have been identified in the past, UNRWA has taken action including raising the issue with relevant parties.
We are aware that the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services and Catherine Colonna have now provided their interim reports to the UN Secretary-General. Their independent investigations include assessment of the policies and systems UNRWA has in place to ensure neutrality.
Asked by: Lord Pickles (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the Palestinian Authority's compliance with the Optional Protocol of the Convention Against Torture.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Human Rights is a crucial element underpinning the UK's foreign policy. We continue to urge the Palestinian Authority (PA) to respect human rights, to ensure complaints of mistreatment or arbitrary detention are properly investigated and to further improve the performance of the security sector. An essential aspect of our efforts to prepare the ground for a two state-solution is to support a stable PA that can deliver services to its people and act as an effective partner for peace with Israel. The UK will continue to monitor these areas closely and raise with the highest levels of the PA.
Asked by: Lord Pickles (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether reports of antisemitic and extremist content in Palestinian school textbooks adhere to (1) the Palestinian Authority–Department for International Development Memorandum of Understanding, and (2) the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to take action against incitement to violence.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Our partnership with the Palestinian Authority (PA) includes a commitment from the Palestinian leadership to adhere to the principle of non-violence and to tackle language and actions that could incite violence or hatred. We have been clear that incitement to hatred or violence is unacceptable and has no place in education. We continue to assess the PA's commitment to peace in line with our Partnership Principles.
Asked by: Lord Pickles (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to reports of the detention and intimidation of Palestinian human rights activists in the Palestinian territories, what recent discussions the Foreign Secretary has had with the Palestinian Authority about the activities of the PA Preventative Security Organisation.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Human Rights is a crucial element underpinning the UK's foreign policy. We continue to urge the Palestinian Authority (PA) to respect human rights, to ensure complaints of mistreatment or arbitrary detention are properly investigated and to continue to improve the performance of the security sector. An essential aspect of our efforts to prepare the ground for a two state-solution is to support a stable PA that can deliver services to its people and act as an effective partner for peace with Israel. The UK will continue to monitor these areas closely and raise with the highest levels of the PA.
Asked by: Lord Pickles (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent any breaches of human rights by the Palestinian Authority; and what further steps they are taking to support the right of freedom to protest in the areas administered by that Authority.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Human Rights is a crucial element underpinning the UK's foreign policy. We continue to urge the Palestinian Authority (PA) to respect human rights, Officials from our Consulate-General in Jerusalem regularly raise the need for key legislative and security sector reform to ensure respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. We encourage the PA to ensure the harmonisation of Palestinian laws with International Human Rights conventions to which it has acceded. As we mark the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, we are again urging the PA at the highest levels to adopt legislation to ensure the protection and progression of women's rights.