§ 2.35 p.m.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are aware of the refusal on the part of certain Arab States to grant travel-visas to subjects of Her Majesty who are members of the Jewish faith, and of the additional refusal of these States to recognise the validity of a power of attorney held on behalf of any British concern in which a member of the Jewish faith has any proprietary interest; and to ask what steps are being taken towards rectification of this improper discrimination against a section of Her Majesty's subjects.]
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (THE MARQUESS OF READING)My Lords, the boycott against Israel was instituted by members of the Arab League some years ago. The measures to which the noble Lord refers are an extension of that boycott. Her 2 Majesty's Government do not accept or condone this boycott which they regard as a violation of international comity, and have protested against it on a number of occasions.
LORD REAMy Lords, while thanking the noble Marquess for his sympathetic reply, may I ask him whether, on further consideration of this matter, he will bear in mind a possible appeal to the United Nations and also the Charter of Human Rights, which I understand Her Majesty"s Government support?
THE MARQUESS OF READINGMy Lords, those aspects have not hitherto been entirely overlooked, as the noble Lord may imagine, but I will continue to bear them in mind.