Two Labour members of the British Parliament said Tuesday evening that they were barred from entering Israel the previous day, with Israeli officials citing “public order” concerns.
The MPs, Peter Prinsley and Simon Opher, had been traveling to the West Bank as part of a parliamentary visit organized by the Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU). Their trip was planned to examine medical and humanitarian initiatives in the area, meet with British diplomats in Jerusalem, and hold discussions with both Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations.
While attempting to cross into Israel from Jordan on Monday, the two lawmakers were stopped by border officials. Opher later told the BBC that they were detained inside a passport control office and eventually informed that entry was denied for reasons of “public order” before being “escorted to a bus” that returned them to Jordan. The MPs issued a joint statement saying, “It is deeply regrettable that Israeli authorities prevented [us] from seeing first hand the grave challenges facing medical facilities in the region and from hearing the British government’s assessment of the situation on the ground.”
The UK Foreign Office responded through a spokesperson, telling the BBC that “it is totally unacceptable and deeply concerning that yet again two British MPs have been denied entry to the occupied Palestinian territories by Israel.”
Hamish Falconer, Britain’s Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, wrote on X/Twitter that “this is no way to treat British parliamentarians.”
Prinsley, who is Jewish, also serves as a representative on the Board of Deputies.
He was recently found in violation of parliamentary standards after neglecting to disclose a fully funded “solidarity” trip to Israel in May, arranged by Labour Friends of Israel. Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority explained to The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday that the MPs were denied because “they were coming on behalf of an organization whose activities are banned in the country and whose members are not permitted entry into Israel; therefore, entry was denied.”
This is not the first such incident. Back in April, two other British MPs—Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang—were also blocked from traveling to the West Bank, with Israeli officials arguing that they planned to “spread hate speech” against Israel.
{Matzav.com}
MAZEL TOV to Israel for finally having a backbone and doing the proper thing.
Why are these two nobodys interfering in Israeli affairs..They should stick to sorting out the many problems in their own country for which they were elected !