Conservative MPs condemned boycotts of Israel by NGOs and raised concerns about Hamas’s brutal treatment of protesters in Gaza, during International Development Questions in Parliament this week.
CFI Officer Paul Scully MP said that “a large number of Israeli and Palestinian non-governmental organisations pursue partisan and divisive agendas in the West Bank, many of which exacerbate tensions for their own ends”.
He asked the Secretary of State whether they agreed that “NGOs that advocate boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel, which the Government have taken firm action on, should be opposed?”
Then-International Development Secretary Rt. Hon. Penny Mordaunt MP said in response: “We want to ensure that any partner we work with is exhibiting all behaviours needed to get good things to happen, so, absolutely, that is our policy and it is the policy of the organisations we work with”.
Philip Hollobone MP said raised concerns about Hamas’s brutality against its own people in the Gaza Strip, asking: “Hamas recently launched a crackdown on dissent against its regime in the Gaza strip. How can we ensure that the human rights of human rights defenders in Gaza are protected?”
Ms Mordaunt said: “Both my Department and, in particular, the Foreign Office do a tremendous amount of work to support human rights defenders. At the recent Bonn conference, DFID published a paper on how we can support civil society and the governance that surrounds it”.
