WEDNESDAY 22 OCTOBER 2014
- Matthew Offord: What discussions has Culture Secretary had with the BBC Trust on its role in monitoring accusations of bias by the BBC in its reporting of events in Israel and the Occupied Territories?
Commons Written Answers
- Lord Hylton: Has the ICJ ruled on the claim by Turkey that Israel’s partial blockade of Gaza constitutes illegal collective punishment; and if so, in what terms?
- Lord Hylton: What representations are HMG making to Israel about the prison sentence given to Riyadh Mahmoud al-Raddad, a member of the Palestinian parliament?
Nos 2-3 http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201415/ldhansrd/text/141022w0001.htm#14102281000292
Lords Written Answers
TUESDAY 21 OCTOBER 2014
- Chris Bryant [in Recall of MPs debate]: “Our primary role is no longer to scrutinise the Government or hold them to account; the majority of Members think that our primary role is to staff or sustain the Government. In the end, that is a problem. It is why we have all the planted questions and obsequious speeches and why votes we pass—on Magnitsky or Palestine—with massive majorities are completely and utterly ignored by the Government. It is why we still have a completely and utterly unreformed House of Lords where patronage remains vital.” [extract]
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/cmhansrd/cm141021/debtext/141021-0002.htm
Commons Debates
- Lord Hylton [in Bosnia and Herzegovina debate]: “I cannot help ending by agreeing most strongly with the noble Lord, Lord Griffiths, on the point that he was making about visas. I have had experience of that in a different context—in my case, a Palestinian one. It is outrageous that very poor people are expected to pay large sums of money to get a visa. The Palestinians, for example, had to go to Amman in Jordan to get their visas to leave Palestine in order to come to England. That is the kind of thing that we are up against. I urge the Government to simplify, cheapen and improve the visa system.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201415/ldhansrd/text/141021-0002.htm#14102193000534
Lords Debates
- Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: What assessment have HMG made of any relationship between their support for Palestinians’ right to self-determination and their position in respect of Turkish-Cypriots’ rights since 1963, in the light of their status as a guarantor power under the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee?
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201415/ldhansrd/text/141021w0001.htm#14102178000227
Lords Written Answers
- Lord Warner: Do HMG consider the marine territory relating to Gaza to be that agreed in the Oslo Accords or some lesser distance from the shoreline; and which country they consider to be the owner of mineral rights in such a marine territory?
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201415/ldhansrd/text/141021w0001.htm#14102178000244
Lords Written Answers
END
MONDAY 20 OCTOBER 2014
- Baroness Tonge: What estimate have HMG made of the number of Palestinian civilians killed as a result of Israeli military action during the period of the most recent peace negotiations? [Baroness Anelay: “Since the agreement of 26 August by all parties to a ceasefire in Gaza, four Palestinians have been killed by the IDF. On 23 September, the IDF killed two Palestinians in Hebron suspected of involvement in the kidnap and murder of three Israeli teenagers in June. On 10 September, a 22 year old Palestinian man was killed by the IDF in al-Amari refugee camp. The IDF claimed he was about to throw an explosive device. The incident occurred as clashes broke out during an IDF arrest operation in the al-Amari camp. A 16 year old youth died on 7 September from wounds he received, allegedly from a rubber bullet fired by the Israeli police, during clashes with the police in Jerusalem on 31 August.”]
- Baroness Tonge: What assessment have HMG made of the impact on any future two-state negotiations of Israel’s recent designation as state land of land at Gvaot outside Bethlehem? [Baroness Anelay: “The British Government’s assessment of Israel’s decision on 31 August to expropriate almost 990 acres of privately owned Palestinian land near Bethlehem, is that this presents an obstacle to peace and takes us further away from a two state solution at a time when negotiations to achieve this objective urgently need to be resumed. We have strongly urged the Government of Israel to reverse this decision.”]
Nos 1-2 http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201415/ldhansrd/text/141020w0001.htm#14102010000155
- Baroness Tonge: What assistance is the EU providing to the PA to help to remove rubble in Gaza? [Baroness Northover:
“The EU and its Member States pledged to provide 450 million Euros in response to the PA’s National Reconstruction and Recovery Plan for Gaza, which includes clearance of rubble and Explosive Remnants of War.”]
- Baroness Tonge: What steps are HMG taking to ensure that where buildings are reconstructed in Gaza following Israeli military action they are better protected in the event of any future military action? [Baroness Northover: At last week’s Reconstruction Conference, UK committed £20 million for disposal of unexploded ordnance, rubble clearance and longer-term assistance through the PA and UN agencies for recovery and reconstruction. This announcement is in addition to an existing funding of more than £17m emergency assistance for those displaced by the conflict.”
- Lord Hylton: What progress has been made since the ceasefire of 26 August towards securing full access to Gaza for medical, relief and reconstruction supplies; and whether all urgent medical cases now have access to treatment in Israel and Egypt? [Baroness Northover: According to WHO, access for medical and relief supplies remains similar to pre-conflict levels.]
Nos 3-5 http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201415/ldhansrd/text/141020w0001.htm#14102010000157
Nos 1-5 Lords Written Answers
END