Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support Palestinian (a) civil society and (b) human rights organisations in (i) Israel and (ii) the Palestinian Territories.

Civil society organisations play an important role in upholding human rights and democracy, and they must be able to operate freely in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs). Officials at the British Embassy in Tel Aviv continue to call upon the Government of Israel to fully respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of human rights defenders and organisations and to allow them to freely operate in Israel and OPTs. The Minister for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, reinforced this message during his visit to Israel and the OPTs on 10-13 January.