Parliamentary Questions on the Middle East - January 2008
Richard spent several days in Palestine over the New Year period. He has written a short article about his visit and the contradictory environment in which the Palestinians find themselves following the Annapolis summit in November. Click here to read the article.
Back in Parliament Richard has asked several Parliamentary Questions to the Chancellor, the Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of State for International Development about the situation in Palestine. These questions, with their answers, are listed below.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information his Department holds on movement restrictions in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the form of (a) checkpoints, (b) roadblocks, (c) closures, (d) road gates, (e) trenches and (f) earth mounds (i) operated and (ii) removed by Israel since the start of November 2007. [178536]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The latest authoritative information that we have is from the Movement and Access Report produced by the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, covering the period 14-17 November 2007, published on 11 January 2008. The report records that 563 obstacles were present in the West Bank, compared with 561 in the previous report. This represents an increase of 185 obstacles, or 49.7 percent over the baseline figure for August 2005.
The ability of Palestinians to move within the West Bank has deteriorated due to the continued or increased use of checkpoints, curfews, roadblocks, a permit system and the barrier. Permit and other restrictions have isolated residents of the West Bank from East Jerusalem and from each other.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of changes made over the last 12 months to the operation of the back to back system introduced by Israel for transporting goods within the West Bank and between the West Bank and Israel; what assessment he has made of the impact of the system on (a) speed with which Palestinian goods can be transported and (b) costs of transportation; and what representations he is making on the subject. [179075]
Mr. Malik: There are currently six back to back crossings for commercial goods between the West Bank and Israel, and one internal back to back crossing in Nablus.
Transportation times have increased as goods must be unloaded and loaded at each crossing, and in some cases, goods must take a longer route to use a specified crossing. Restrictions are in place on the opening hours and capacity of the crossings. These factors have contributed to an increase in transportation costs.
DFID is supporting a World Bank study to quantify the additional transport costs these restrictions create. The study will also investigate alternate trade corridors to and from the West Bank.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the likely impact on the development of Palestinian small and medium-sized businesses of the proposed creation of industrial zones near the Green Line between Israel and Palestine promoting economic co-operation between Israel and Palestine. [178444]
Mr. Malik: The UK Government believe that the proposed industrial zones can help economic recovery given the right conditions. However, the capacity of the six Israel-West Bank crossings will need to be sufficient for processing both the eventual industrial estate traffic and existing trade, including by small and medium businesses. The World Bank is currently assessing the capacity of those crossings and we hope this will clarify whether any of the crossings will be a bottleneck for trade.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps have been taken since November 2007 to implement the provisions of the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access in respect of the Palestinian Territories; and what assessment he has made of the impact such steps had on the ability of Palestinian businesses to trade (a) within the West Bank and Gaza, (b) between the West Bank and Gaza and (c) internationally. [179074]
Mr. Malik: No steps have been taken since November 2007 to implement the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access. Movement and access remains the main constraint on the ability of Palestinian businesses to trade within, between and outside the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This was the conclusion of both the UK-funded World Bank’s Investment Climate Assessment in March 2007 and the UK Government’s report on the “Economic Aspects of Peace in the Middle East” of September 2007.
The UK Government continue to call on Israel to fulfil their obligations on Movement and Access. The Palestinian Authority also has obligations to improve security. We hope that progress will be made as part of the peace process started at Annapolis.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development in what languages the International Donors Conference for the Palestinian State held in Paris on 17 December 2007 has published its (a) working papers, (b) final statement and (c) pledges. [178366]
Mr. Malik: The International Donors Conference was hosted and organised by the French Government in Paris. The speeches and declarations that were made on the day, the final statement and the pledges are available on the website of the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The final statement and pledges are available in French and English, and the final statement is additionally available in Dutch. There were no working papers for this conference.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which multinational organisation has responsibility for co-ordinating the implementation of the pledges of the donor groups according to their nature as specified in the final statement of the International Donors Conference for the Palestinian State held in Paris on 17 December 2007. [178368]
Mr. Malik: A donor co-ordination mechanism, with a secretariat in Ramallah, was set-up following the London Ad Hoc Liaison Committee conference in 2005. This continues to provide practical coordination on the ground.
At the Paris donor conference the UK supported the establishment of a more effective monitoring mechanism. We believe this should not only cover pledges by donors, but also progress by Israelis and Palestinians in creating the conditions necessary for aid to be effective. Unfortunately, no such mechanism was agreed at the Paris conference. We continue to call on international partners to agree a monitoring mechanism.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps are being taken to monitor the post code regulation of goods being imported to the UK by Israel under the EU-Israel Association Agreement; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of monitoring in preventing the products of Israeli settlements in the West Bank being imported using the Agreement’s trade preferences. [178520]
Jane Kennedy: I have been asked to reply.
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs assess applications for relief based on the terms of the international agreements applying to the territories concerned. Claims to duty relief under the provisions of the EU-Israel Association Agreement are disallowed where documentation accompanying the goods indicates that they were produced in the Palestinian Authority.
The monitoring of the post code regulation is effective and resulted in the disallowance of 202 claims to preference since January 2007.
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on how many occasions since January 2007 HM Revenue and Customs intercepted goods produced in Israeli settlements in the West Bank being imported to the UK claiming the preferences of the EU-Israeli Association Agreement; and what steps have been taken in consequence. [179256]
Jane Kennedy: Since January 2007, there have been 202 occasions where claims to preference for goods produced in Israeli settlements in the West Bank and imported into the United Kingdom have been rejected. These goods were confirmed as incorrectly claiming a preferential rate of duty under the EU/Israel Association Agreement. A demand for the full rate of import duty was sent to every importer concerned.
