Israel Blocks British Politicians from Entering Country

(MENAFN) Two members of Britain’s Labour Party revealed on Tuesday that they were barred from entering Israel while on a parliamentary mission to the occupied West Bank.

Simon Opher and Peter Prinsley were participants in a delegation arranged by the Council for Arab-British Understanding. The group had planned meetings this week with UK diplomats in Jerusalem, alongside sessions with both Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations.

In a formal statement, Opher’s office explained that the purpose of the trip was to “enable members of parliament to witness the vital medical and humanitarian work of a range of organizations including Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) in the occupied West Bank."

The statement further stressed: “It is deeply regrettable that Israeli authorities prevented them 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."

Media outlets reported that Opher has since returned to the United Kingdom via Jordan.
This episode reflects a similar occurrence earlier this year.

Back in April, Labour MPs Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed were also denied entry into Israel and deported back to the UK.

At that time, Israeli officials claimed the lawmakers intended to "document the activities of security forces and spread anti-Israel hatred," pointing to their previous criticism of Israel’s military campaigns and endorsement of sanctions against Israeli ministers.

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