Asked by: Lord Gold (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, having regard to part 6 of the Memorandum of Understanding on Strategic Cooperation between the United Kingdom and the Palestinian Government on education, published on 28 April, what recent discussions they have had with the Palestinian Authority to determine whether any UK aid is being used to support teaching materials in Palestinian schools that promote hatred, extremism or the glorification of terrorism; and what steps they plan to take should such use be identified.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The UK has a zero-tolerance approach to fraud and robust controls against the diversion of aid. We select our partners for the strong safeguards they have in place, which reduce delivery risks and will ensure the maximum impact of UK aid for Palestinians.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his Israeli counterpart on the forceful closure of schools administered by UNRWA.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We were dismayed to hear of the forcible closure of six United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) schools in East Jerusalem on 8 May. These closures will deny 800 Palestinian children their right to education. We stated our strong opposition to the closure jointly with 16 other diplomatic missions, in a statement issued on X. The UK is clear that Palestinian children, like all children, deserve safe, uninterrupted access to school. The Israeli order to close these schools is deeply worrying. The vital work of UNRWA in ensuring that Palestinians have access to education and healthcare must be protected in East Jerusalem, as well as in Gaza and the West Bank. The Foreign Secretary continues to raise these issues with his Israeli counterpart.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March to Question 34309, what steps his Department has taken to promote accountability for attacks on schools in the Occupied Palestinian Territory by (a) Israeli forces and (b) Israeli settlers.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Education is a human right. It expands choices and enables children to live lives that they value. The vital work of the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in ensuring that Palestinians have access to education and healthcare must be protected in Gaza as well as the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Children's access to education must continue uninterrupted. The Foreign Secretary and I have also made clear our concerns about the current Israeli military operations in the West Bank and stressed the need for civilians and civilian infrastructure to be protected. We recognise Israel's security concerns, but it must show restraint and ensure its operations are commensurate to the threat posed. We are also clear that the Israeli government must crack down on settler violence, stop settlement expansion and not annex the West Bank.
On 15 October 2024, the Foreign Secretary announced sanctions targeting three illegal settler outposts and four organisations that have supported and sponsored violence against communities in the West Bank. These measures will help bring accountability to those who have supported and perpetrated such heinous abuses of human rights. We continue to keep these issues under review. It would not be appropriate to speculate about any potential future sanctions designations as to do so could reduce their impact.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March to Question 34309, when he last raised the destruction of (a) schools and (b) higher education facilities in Gaza with his Israeli counterparts.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign Secretary continues to raise concern at continued Israeli operations in Gaza, including the need for protection of schools and higher education facilities, with his Israeli counterparts. Children's access to education must continue uninterrupted. The UK Government have announced £41 million for United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) this financial year, which is supporting the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and Palestinian refugees in the region. Furthermore, UK support has given 14,000 children access to education materials and welfare support.
In East Jerusalem the Israeli order to close schools and the immediate evacuation of the Kalandia Training Centre is deeply worrying. The vital work of UNRWA in ensuring that Palestinians have access to education and healthcare must be protected in Gaza as well as the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March to Question 38689 on Racial Discrimination: Palestinians, if she will hold discussions with Educate against Hate on developing resources to tackle anti-Palestinian racism.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
This government is committed to ensuring that teachers, parents, and young people are equipped with the guidance and resources designed to develop critical thinking, logical reasoning, and empathy, to build resilience to, and reject hateful narratives.
The department’s Educate Against Hate website hosts quality-assured resources to help teachers and school leaders teach students about extremism, conflict, spotting misinformation and disinformation, online safety, and our shared fundamental British values.
Following the events of 7 October 2023, a blog containing practical advice for discussing ongoing conflicts was published on the Educate Against Hate website. The blog signposts relevant resources from reputable organisations that can support schools to teach about this sensitive topic in a balanced way, avoiding antisemitic, anti-Muslim and/or other discriminatory narratives.
Educate Against Hate provides a range of resources and guides to support teachers and education practitioners in confidently facilitating conversations around the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. The resources are wide ranging and address why it is important to discuss this topic, how to navigate the news and social media, and how to support young people who may be directly affected by the conflict. All guidance and teaching resources hosted on Educate Against Hate are drawn from reputable organisations.
There are also practical resources designed to be used in classrooms, that focus on Palestine and Israel and cover the history of the conflict. They challenge students and learners to examine a range of sources such as images, maps and documentation to debate and discuss different perspectives in a polite and respectful way, and in the controlled environment of a classroom, before they reach their own views on the topic.
Asked by: David Reed (Conservative - Exmouth and Exeter East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2025 to Question 27041 on Palestinians: Schools, what the timeline is for the full implementation of the recommendations of the Colonna report on the neutrality of educational materials in UNRWA-run schools in (a) Gaza and (b) the West Bank; and whether he has had discussions with UNRWA on replacing the current curriculum.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UN conducts quarterly progress reports on UNRWA's implementation of the recommendations made in the Colonna report, with the latest having issued in January 2025. This includes eight recommendations relating specifically to education. As noted in the answer to PQ 27041, on 28 January, the Minister for Development informed the House that she had discussed the issue of neutrality with UNRWA's leadership, including directly with Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.
Asked by: David Reed (Conservative - Exmouth and Exeter East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with UNRWA on ensuring that educational materials used in UNRWA-run schools in the West Bank and Gaza do not incite violence and hatred.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Education is an essential component of the humanitarian response in Gaza, and critical to building the foundations for a sustainable and lasting peace for the Israeli and Palestinian people, grounded in a two-state solution. It is therefore essential that partners delivering education services across the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs), not least the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), uphold the highest standards of neutrality. £1 million of the UK's funding support for UNRWA has been earmarked to implement the recommendations of Catherine Colonna's Independent Review of Mechanisms and Procedures to Ensure Adherence by UNRWA to the Humanitarian Principle of Neutrality. On 28 January, the Minister for Development informed the House that she had discussed the issue of neutrality with UNRWA's leadership, including directly with Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini. She also spoke to UNRWA staff members on their work to implement the recommendations of the Colonna report during her visit to the region on 3-5 December. We welcome the initiatives launched by UNRWA to ensure neutrality of its educational material and teaching, in addition to its longstanding work with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Palestinian Authority to reform curricula and educational materials.
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much overseas development assistance funding has been spent on Palestinian schools in the occupied territories which have been (a) demolished and (b) threatened with demolition by Israeli authorities in the last five years .
Answered by David Rutley
As I [Minister of State for the Americas and the Caribbean] said in the House of Commons on 18 July, the UK is clear that in all but the most exceptional of circumstances, demolitions and evictions are contrary to international humanitarian law. Our opposition to the demolition of Palestinian property is long-standing. The practice causes unnecessary suffering and is harmful to efforts to promote peace. We repeatedly call on Israel to abide by its obligations under international law and have a regular dialogue with Israel on legal issues relating to the occupation. On 7 May, The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon wrote to the Israeli Ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, to express the government's opposition to the demolition of Jubbet Adh Dhib school. Lord Ahmad has also visited a school under threat of demolition in Masafer Yatta during his visit to the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) in January.
The FCDO aid budget is allocated in accordance with UK strategic priorities against a challenging financial climate. It is not possible to calculate the exact figure for UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding spent on schools in the OPTs that have been demolished (or are at risk of demolition) because ODA funding for this area goes into a multilateral pooled fund. However, there is a robust framework in place for allocating ODA. Data on ODA spend in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is available on DevTracker (https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/countries/PS).
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has held with his counterpart in Israel on (a) recent and (b) potential future demolitions of Palestinian schools in the occupied territories that are (i) funded and (ii) co-funded by the UK overseas development assistance budget.
Answered by David Rutley
As I [Minister of State for the Americas and the Caribbean] said in the House of Commons on 18 July, the UK is clear that in all but the most exceptional of circumstances, demolitions and evictions are contrary to international humanitarian law. Our opposition to the demolition of Palestinian property is long-standing. The practice causes unnecessary suffering and is harmful to efforts to promote peace. We repeatedly call on Israel to abide by its obligations under international law and have a regular dialogue with Israel on legal issues relating to the occupation. On 7 May, The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon wrote to the Israeli Ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, to express the government's opposition to the demolition of Jubbet Adh Dhib school. Lord Ahmad has also visited a school under threat of demolition in Masafer Yatta during his visit to the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) in January.
The FCDO aid budget is allocated in accordance with UK strategic priorities against a challenging financial climate. It is not possible to calculate the exact figure for UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding spent on schools in the OPTs that have been demolished (or are at risk of demolition) because ODA funding for this area goes into a multilateral pooled fund. However, there is a robust framework in place for allocating ODA. Data on ODA spend in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is available on DevTracker (https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/countries/PS).
Asked by: Caroline Ansell (Conservative - Eastbourne)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency on the use of the official Palestinian Authority school curriculum in schools in the West Bank and Gaza; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
We are longstanding supporters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). We recognise that UNRWA needs to be on a more secure financial footing to ensure that Palestinian refugees' basic needs are met. On 22 September 2022 in New York, The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, attended a ministerial dialogue on UNRWA's financial situation where he reiterated UK support for the agency and the need for the international community to support it to be on a more viable financial footing. We accompany our support for the UNRWA with stringent attention to implementation of their neutrality policy, including how they apply this to textbooks and other learning material to ensure they reflect UN values. We also regularly raise the issue of textbook content with the Palestinian Authority directly. Lord Ahmad also reinforced this message during his visit to a UNRWA school on 12 January.