Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that the Israeli police cancelled a Mother’s Day event at a French culture centre in East Jerusalem.

We are aware that Israeli authorities temporarily shut down the French Institute in Jerusalem on the grounds that it was to host an event involving an association supported by the Palestinian Authority. While we have not raised this specific issue, our long-standing position is that East Jerusalem is Occupied Palestinian Territory. We regularly raise our concerns about Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem, and about the restrictions on freedom of movement within the West Bank, including to and from East Jerusalem, with the Israeli authorities. It remains difficult for Palestinians to enter East Jerusalem for work, education, medical treatment, or religious worship.