Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding with the Palestinian Authority (PA), whether her Department has had discussions with the PA on reports of a broadcast on a children's television programme on 20 January 2018 encouraging children to follow the example of terrorists.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK Government deplores any act of incitement to violence; the Secretary of State and I raised the issue of incitement during our respective bilateral meetings with senior Palestinian counterparts in January 2018. 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 avoid actions that could incite violence or hatred. The UK continues to urge the Palestinian leadership to uphold this principle.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding with the Palestinian Authority (PA), what discussions her Department has had with the PA on reports that people wore mock suicide belts and carried detonators at a parade in Ramallah on 8 January 2017.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK Government deplores any act of incitement to violence; the Secretary of State and I raised the issue of incitement during our respective bilateral meetings with senior Palestinian counterparts in January 2018. 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 avoid actions that could incite violence or hatred. The UK continues to urge the Palestinian leadership to uphold this principle.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding with the Palestinian Authority (PA), whether her Department has had discussions with the PA on reports of a broadcast on a children's television programme of a poem inciting violence against Israelis on 6 January 2017.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK Government deplores any act of incitement to violence; the Secretary of State and I raised the issue of incitement during our respective bilateral meetings with senior Palestinian counterparts in January 2018. 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 avoid actions that could incite violence or hatred. The UK continues to urge the Palestinian leadership to uphold this principle.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding with the Palestinian Authority (PA), whether her Department has had discussions with the PA on the naming of a school after Salah Khalaf.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK Government deplores any act of incitement to violence; the Secretary of State and I raised the issue of incitement during our respective bilateral meetings with senior Palestinian counterparts in January 2018. 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 avoid actions that could incite violence or hatred. The UK continues to urge the Palestinian leadership to uphold this principle.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2017 to Question 118369 on Palestinians: overseas aid, what the robust verification system that validates that funds are used for the intended purposes is; and whether that system includes the payment of those funds into an account used only to pay the salaries of health and education public servants on the pre-approved EU list.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Palestinian Authority payroll is checked by independent auditors, and UK payments made to all eligible beneficiaries are traced through the verification process. The EU Palestinian-European Socio-Economic Management Assistance Mechanism (PEGASE) uses a dedicated sub-account within the PA’s Single Treasury Account for the purpose of contributing to public servant salaries. The UK has a further sub-account to only pay the salaries of West Bank health and education public servants; an independent auditor is able to confirm that funds from this sub-account reach the intended beneficiaries.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2017 to Question 118369 what assessment she has made of the whether the UK will continue to use EU funding mechanisms for its development assistance to the Palestinian Authority after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK has assessed that, having decided to focus our support solely on Palestinian Authority health and education public servants in the West Bank, the EU Palestinian-European Socio-Economic Management and Assistance Mechanism (PEGASE) offers the best value for money and the most effective way of directly providing support to Palestinians in need, whilst providing strong safeguards for UK funds. DFID constantly reviews expenditure to ensure value for money; this is no exception. The UK’s ability to use the EU PEGASE mechanism will not be affected when we leave the European Union (EU). Non-EU countries are able to channel funding through this mechanism.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and her Department, what discussions her Department has had with the PA on the payment of over £41,000 each to Kifah Ghneimat and Iyad Fataftah who were the attackers of Kay Wilson in December 2010.
Answered by Alistair Burt
No UK aid is used for payments to Palestinian prisoners or their families. UK financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority is only used to help to pay the salaries of health and education public servants in the West Bank. Only named public servants from a pre-approved EU list are eligible and a robust verification system validates that funds are used for the intended purposes. The UK government strongly condemns all forms of violence including incitement to violence.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Memorandum of Understanding between the Palestinian Authority and her Department, what discussions her Department has had with the Palestinian Authority about the payments of more than £33,000 to Mousab Abu Shkhidem, Nidal Shehadeh, Is'haq Arafe, and Hussein Kawasmeh.
Answered by Alistair Burt
No UK aid is used for payments to Palestinian prisoners or their families. UK financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority is only used to help to pay the salaries of health and education public servants in the West Bank. Only named public servants from a pre-approved EU list are eligible and a robust verification system validates that funds are used for the intended purposes. The UK government strongly condemns all forms of violence including incitement to violence.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether the Government plans to fund the Palestinian Authority other than in accordance with the Government response, Future UK support to the Occupied Palestinian Territories published on 16 December 2016, and in particular paragraphs 1 and 2 of the notes to editors as claimed by WAFA, the Palestinian National Authority news agency on 25 November 2017.
Answered by Alistair Burt
UK financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA) continues to be provided in accordance with the Government response, “Future UK support to the Occupied Palestinian Territories” published on 16 December 2016. UK financial assistance to the PA is only used to help pay the salaries of health and education public servants in the West Bank. Only named public servants from a pre-approved EU list are eligible and a robust verification system validates that funds are used for the intended purposes. This enables around 25,000 young Palestinians to get an education, provides up to 3,700 immunisations for children, and around 185,000 medical consultations annually.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the memorandum of understanding between the Palestinian Authority and her Department, what discussions her Department has had with the Palestinian Authority as a result of the publication of cartoons showing the UK Prime Minister (a) with a pig's snout and carrying a Star of David and (b) drinking a glass of Palestinian blood, published on a Fatah Facebook page on 2 November 2017 and in the Palestinian Authority's official daily newspaper, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida on 1 November 2017 respectively.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Our partnership with the Palestinian Authority includes a commitment from the Palestinian leadership to adhere to the principle of non-violence and to tackle language and avoid actions that could incite violence or hatred. The UK continues to urge the Palestinian leadership to uphold this principle. The UK Government deplores any act of incitement to violence; I raised the issue of incitement with senior Palestinian counterparts during my visit to the region in August.