By Baroness Tonge - 4th November 2010
Baroness Tonge writes for ePolitix.com ahead of her question on the deportation of four Palestinian Members of Parliament from East Jerusalem.
In January 2006 elections were held in Palestine for a new Palestine Legislative Assembly. It was well organised, fair and monitored by the European Union. The result of that election was not recognised by Israel, the EU and the US because Hamas candidates had the majority, which makes us wonder just what our government means by 'democracy'. Not only was the result not recognised, but also over 40 MPs were arrested by the Israelis and put into prison to serve four-year sentences.
Four MPs representing East Jerusalem constituencies were released in July after serving their four year 'sentences'. Sadly for them and democracy, they were immediately re-arrested, threatened with deportation, and charged with disloyalty to the state of Israel! They gained refuge in the Red Cross headquarters in East Jerusalem where Lord Hylton, Lord Ahmed and I visited them at the end of last session.
These men were on the 'Change and Reform' list of candidates, which included some Hamas members and some Christians. They themselves deny membership of Hamas. They are denied the chance to represent their constituents and are living in one room at the Red Cross unable to go out, for fear of re-arrest – one of their number did this and is now back in prison. If they agree to deportation they must abandon their homes and extended families of many generations.
They also run the risk of setting a precedent for the Israelis to deport many Palestinians from East Jerusalem on spurious charges. It is well known that, despite UN resolutions, Israel has now annexed East Jerusalem and Arabs are being ejected from their homes to make way for Israeli settlers.
When questioned, our government recites the usual mantra about making representations to the Israeli government and that these actions are against International Law and the Geneva Convention. But no action is ever taken to make Israel comply.
Just what sort of democracy are we and the Americans promoting in Palestine? What hypocrites we are. Meanwhile, those men are still holed up in a room in Jerusalem whilst the world looks the other way, afraid to take on the monster Israeli government and its lobby.
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