Baroness Tonge – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2015-10-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they are making to the government of Israel regarding the extension of the Separation Barrier in the Cremisan Valley and its effect on Christian families who previously occupied that land.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv have raised the issue of the separation barrier though Cremisan Valley with the Israeli authorities on several occasions, most recently on 1 September. On 9 July, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), issued a press statement which was clear that the UK is deeply concerned by the Israeli Supreme Court’s decision of 6 July to allow the construction of 1.2km of the Separation Barrier through the Cremisan Valley. If built, this section of the Separation Barrier will restrict 58 Palestinian families from accessing their land, which will have a detrimental effect on their livelihoods.