Israel: Refusal of Entry for UK Parliamentarians Debate
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Will Forster
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Israel: Refusal of Entry for UK Parliamentarians
Will Forster Excerpts(6 days, 5 hours ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Falconer
My hon. Friend, who is so committed to these issues, has been discussing them with me and others for many years. He is right to highlight the important work of Yachad, which has also provided delegations to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. I refer him to my previous response in the statement.
Mr Will Forster (Woking) (LD)
I was on one of those delegations that the Minister has just spoken about, and unlike my friends on the Government Benches, we were able to visit the area without a problem from the Israeli Government. However, we did have an incident with Israeli settlers. Is the Minister concerned, and what will he do about this sliding from what is supposed to be a democratic country, undermining the rule of law and stopping British politicians from seeing what is happening in the occupied territories?
Mr Falconer
I know that my neighbour, the Father of the House, the right hon. Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh), has also been on such a delegation. Like the hon. Member, he reported an incident with settlers. I refer the House to my previous statements about the expansion of settler violence and illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.