Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs written question – answered at on 24 April 2013.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations his Department has made to (a) UEFA and (b) the government of Israel on (i) access to tickets and (ii) free movement across borders for football fans from the West Bank and Gaza during the UEFA under-21 football tournament in Israel in June 2013.
We have not raised these specific issues with the Israeli authorities or with the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).
We do however remain deeply concerned about restrictions on freedom of movement from the west bank and Gaza. Through our embassy in Tel Aviv, we frequently lobby the appropriate authorities on the issue of movement and access. We continue to work closely with the Quartet and EU partners, and to call on Israel to ease restrictions on access on all occasions including the UEFA Under-21 football championship, which will take place in Israel in June.
We hope that the tournament will create opportunities to use football to break down barriers between Israelis and Palestinians.
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