Sir (Northampton North) (Con):
Can we have a debate on the failure of the Metropolitan police to
investigate an openly terrorist-supporting Socialist Workers
party pamphlet, which has been reported on in several newspapers,
entitled “Palestine: Resistance, Revolution and the Struggle for
Hamas”? It has been on sale during the protest
marches every weekend in London, and it includes the line:
“we unconditionally support Hamas when it is
engaged in military or non-military struggles
against Israel ”
This poison has been on sale for weeks, including, I am told,
right outside this House, in Parliament Square. Does my right
hon. Friend agree that the police should act under section 12 of
the Terrorism Act 2000?
The Leader of the House of Commons (): I thank my right hon. and
learned Friend for raising this important matter—it is extremely
disturbing to hear that. He will know that the police chiefs have
our total backing in using the full extent of the law to crack
down on any criminality, and what he describes sounds like it
falls into that category. The police have powers to arrest those
who belong to or glorify terrorist groups such as
Hamas under the Terrorism Act 2000 and anyone
who incites racial hatred under the Public Order Act 1986, and we
support them in using those powers. I am afraid that the
Socialist Workers are rentagobs who show up to all kinds of
protests, spouting all kinds of hate, and deserve a closer look.
(Bournemouth East) (Con): As
we saw in yesterday’s King’s Speech debate, some views on the
Gaza conflict are becoming dangerously
oversimplified and binary—someone is either in favour of a
ceasefire, or they are in favour of the war continuing. That is
not just misleading, it is also provocative. Will the Government
utilise a statement or hold a debate to confirm Britain’s
position on supporting a humanitarian pause—a position that was
adopted by United Nations Security Council resolution 2712 last
night?
: I thank my right hon.
Friend for raising that issue. He has great experience in this
area. He is right, and I think the view was expressed well last
night that in calling for a ceasefire, what people have been
asking is for Israel to
deviate from its duty to protect its citizens and defend itself.
If Israel puts
down its arms, it ceases to exist. That is the situation now, and
only the end of Hamas, or whatever might try to
take their place, and a long-term solution that guarantees peace,
will enable it to do that. That is very important. We have a
proud track record of protecting international humanitarian law
and protecting citizens. We monitor closely what goes on not just
with this situation but with others, including the attention to
detail and care that Israel is
taking in ensuring that it is the right side of that line. My
right hon. Friend will know that on recent operations, the
Israeli Defence Forces will have had
humanitarian and medical professionals embedded in its forces to
ensure that that happens. I repeat what I said at the start of
this question: whatever hon. Members decide to do in this place,
based on their conscience, they should be allowed to do it. We
can all take care of each other in this place when hon. Members,
inevitably and sadly, come under threat for doing so.
(Harrow East) (Con): Yesterday, more than 60 Members
of this House and the other place met under the auspices of the
all-party Britain-Israel parliamentary group and
witnessed the video of the true atrocities committed by Hamas on
7 October. Rarely have I seen Members of this House and the other
place so silent and so horrified.
In contrast, overnight the Israel Defence
Forces have facilitated the media to enter the Al-Shifa
Hospital, the Rantisi children’s hospital and the Nasser
Hospital, all of which have been demonstrated to be command and
control centres and weapons centres. At the children’s hospital,
there is clear evidence that hostages were kept there by Hamas
and have subsequently been moved. That is in direct contrast to
what many people have seen in the media across the world from
those people who support Hamas.
May we have a statement from the Government, probably from a
Foreign Office Minister in this place, on exactly what is
happening in terms of progress in liberating Gaza from Hamas and
the attempts being made by the IDF to minimise
civilian casualties as this terrible war continues?
: I thank my hon. Friend for
raising this important point. He is correct that it is now clear
that hospitals and other civilian places have been used by Hamas.
That is not news: a 2015 report by Amnesty International alleges
that the Shifa Hospital has served as a Hamas interrogation and
torture centre for some time. To reassure the House, Members will
know that the Israel Defence
Forces are doing a huge amount and taking great care
with regard to civilian lives, as they do the very difficult job
of clearing these areas out and trying to destroy Hamas and their
network. The IDF transferred incubators, baby
food and additional medical supplies to hospital compounds, and
on Sunday they opened up additional humanitarian corridors from
various hospitals for civilians and patients to evacuate—on foot
if they could, or via ambulance—to the south.
The Israeli-operated humanitarian corridors have
reportedly been used by approximately a quarter of a million
Palestinians. Today, I understand that Israel is
facilitating the provision of fuel to the United Nations Relief
and Works Agency to enable the delivery of aid into Gaza. Its job
is made harder by the operations of Hamas—I think that, in terms
of getting people out, a third of the names on the list provided
by Hamas to Egypt and Israel were
known Hamas terrorists, leading to delays in civilians getting
the medical attention they require. This is an incredibly
difficult situation, and I urge all hon. Members to be kept
informed and up to date about what is happening on the ground.
(Strangford) (DUP): In an October attack in Tunisia,
a non-functioning synagogue was set on fire and seriously damaged
during a protest. Police did not stop the attack. Various attacks
in the Russian North Caucasus have left local Jewish communities
afraid for their safety. There has been no word, or no response,
from the Russian Government on those attacks. Will the Leader of
the House join me in condemning the rising tide of
antisemitism resulting from the
Israel-Hamas war, and will she ask the relevant
Minister from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to
call for proper governmental responses to antisemitism in the
regions that I have mentioned?
: I will make sure that the
new Foreign Secretary has heard what the hon. Gentleman says and
understands his keen interest in this area. It is incumbent on
all of us to recognise and tackle antisemitism, which has been
around for a long time but is now on the rise. We need to combat
it, and we need to ensure that communities, wherever they are in
the UK or around the world, feel able to go about their business
in safety and security, and feel able to wear symbols of their
faith without fear as they live their daily lives. It is our
first duty to ensure that, particularly in the United Kingdom,
and I thank him for reminding us of it each week.
