In oral questions to the Secretary of State for International Development yesterday, Bob Blackman MP asked the Cabinet Minister how she has responded to official PA condemnation of peace-building projects between Israelis and Palestinians.
The MP for Harrow East referred to the reaction of senior Palestinian official, Jibril Rajoub, to a football match between Israeli and Palestinian youths in 2014, organised by the Peres Centre for Peace.
Rajoub, the Head of the Palestinian Football Association and the Palestine Olympic Committee, condemned the event, stating that “any activity of normalisation in sports with the Zionist enemy is a crime against humanity”.
Mr Blackman, a Parliamentary Officer of CFI, said: “Senior Palestinian officials have condemned peace-building initiatives between Israelis and Palestinians, with one condemning football matches between Israeli and Palestinian youths as ‘normalisation of the Zionist enemy’”.
He asked the Secretary of State: “What representations has my right hon. Friend made to the Palestinian Authority to condemn these moves, and what moves is she making to build peace between Israel and Palestine?”
Rt. Hon. Justine Greening MP said that the Department “monitors incitement very closely” and makes appropriate representations when such instances occur.
Earlier in DfID questions, Michael Tomlinson, the MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole, asked the Minister whether he would join him in “condemning incitement to violence or glorification of violence on either side?”
Rt. Hon. Desmond Swayne MP underlined: “We are wholly opposed to incitement, and when instances of incitement are brought to my attention, I go straight to the telephone to raise the matter with the chief executives of those organisations and make absolutely clear our fundamental disapproval, and our requirement that things are put right”.
