§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will arrange with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to be consulted in future if they propose to remove religious symbols from the graves of Jewish Service men, killed on active service.
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§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether religious symbols have been removed from the graves of Jewish Service men killed on active service in graveyards in Iraq other than the Baghdad North Gate Cemetery; and, if so, then where, when and in what circumstances.
§ Mr. MasonYes. Four each have been removed from Mosul and Basra cemeteries and one from Kut. They were removed at the same time and for the same reasons as those in Baghdad.
Mr. Greville Janneyasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether religious symbols have been removed from the graves of Jewish Service men killed on active service in graveyards in countries other than Iraq; and if so, then where, when and in what circumstances.
§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Defence what were the names and who were the next of kin of the Jewish ex-Service men killed on active service, whose bodies were buried in the Baghdad North Gate Cemetery, Iraq, and whose headstones marked with the Star of David were removed and whose graves are no longer to be marked with the Jewish religious symbol.
§ Mr. MasonI will write to my hon. and learned Friend and give details of the graves concerned. I cannot, however, give particulars of the next-of-kin as this would be contrary to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's practice. It is the commission's intention to replace the headstones bearing the Jewish religious symbol when practicable.
§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether, in cases where it is intended to remove the Jewish religious symbol from the graves of Jewish Service men killed on active service, he will consult with the Chief Rabbi, the Senior Jewish Chaplain to the Forces and the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen.
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§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Defence what representations have been made formally to the Iraqi authorities during the past five years concerning vandalism at Baghdad North Gate War Cemetery through diplomatic channels; with what results; and whether such representations included specific protests at the vandalising of graves of Jewish ex-Service men killed on active service.
§ Mr. MasonRepresentations were made in 1970 and 1973 and, as a result, the police increased their surveillance of the cemetery. No distinction was made between Jewish and other graves.
§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Defence what representations have been made informally to the Iraqi authorities during the past five years concerning vandalism at Baghdad North Gate War Cemetery through diplomatic channels; with what result; and whether such representations included specific protests at the vandalising of graves of Jewish ex-Service men killed on active service.
§ Mr. MasonRepresentations were made in 1972 which resulted in increased police surveillance of the cemetery. No distinction was made between Jewish and other graves.
§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what representations have been made formally to the Iraqi authorities during the past years concerning vandalism at Baghdad North Gate War Cemetery through other than diplomatic channels; with what results; and whether such representations included specific protests at the vandalising of graves of Jewish ex-Service men killed on active service;
(2) what representations have been made informally to the Iraqi authorities during the past five years concerning vandalism at Baghdad North Gate War Cemetery through other than diplomatic channels; with what results; and whether such representations included specific protests at the vandalising of graves of Jewish ex-Service men killed on active service.
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§ Mr. MasonAll incidents of vandalism were reported to the police, which resulted in increased surveillance of the cemetery. The representations to the Iraqi authorities did not differentiate between Jewish and other graves.
§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether the temporary markers replacing the headstones with the Jewish religious symbol on the graves of Jewish ex-Service men in the Baghdad North Gate Cemetery were marked with the Jewish religious symbol.
§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Defence on what quarterly dates the War Graves Commission kept the question of the failure to mark the graves of Jewish ex-Service men with a Jewish religious symbol under quarterly review.
§ Mr. MasonThe question was kept under review on the following dates
1971, 1st April, 4th November; 1972, 11th May. 9th November, 1st December; 1973, 7th June, 4th July, 12th October; 1974, 2nd January, 6th March, 29th June, 25th September; 1975, 1st February, 1st April.
§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Defence on what date he was informed of the decisions of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission referred to in his letter dated 15th July 1975 and addressed to the hon. Member for Leicester, West.
§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Defence on what date the Commonwealth War Graves Commission decided that it would be impracticable for the permanent headstones marking the graves of Jewish ex-Service men killed on active service to bear the Jewish religious emblem.