Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor: Citizenship
Debate between Lord Polak and Lord Wood of Anfield(3Â weeks ago)
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Lord Wood of Anfield (Lab)
I thank my noble friend for that question and pay tribute to her long-standing commitment to rights, freedoms and the rule of law for many years. She is absolutely right that dissent is the test of the health of democracy, and we remain concerned about reports of threats and intimidation directed at journalists, filmmakers and others. I am pleased to say that the Foreign Office takes media freedom extremely seriously. We chair a coalition on media freedom. My ministerial friend Chris Elmore talked about this issue to the Foreign Affairs Committee in recent months. It is going to continue to be a priority, not just in the Middle East but elsewhere.
Lord Polak (Con)
My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Chakrabarti, should know better before submitting such Questions. Any revoking of Israeli citizenship requires the Interior Minister, the Attorney-General and a court to independently agree, and the noble Baroness knows that no such proceedings have been opened. Does the Minister agree, as the film itself received a 25-minute standing ovation in Venice, and the filmmakers were free to make and screen a film fiercely—and I say fiercely—criticising their own Government, that this episode shows the strength and well-being of press freedom and democratic debate in Israel and should be praised by all noble Lords and His Majesty’s Government?
Lord Wood of Anfield (Lab)
I start by wishing the noble Lord and all other Jewish Members of our Chamber a happy new year. He is right that Israel, for example, is a signatory to both the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 UN Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, as we are. I note that the Israeli Prime Minister last night made remarks about possible future legislation, but we do not comment on that; we will see what transpires. The noble Lord is also completely right that there is a venerable and admirable tradition of robust free speech and exchange, and we hope that that tradition remains in place.