UK (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Israel denied entry to British Labour MPs Peter Prinsley and Simon Opher on “public order” grounds, the pair revealed Tuesday after being turned away.
The Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU) had sent a parliamentary delegation, which included Peter Prinsley and Simon Opher, to visit the West Bank.
Prinsley and Opher were scheduled to meet with Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations in Jerusalem, as well as British diplomats, with the aim of learning more about the medical and humanitarian work being done in the West Bank.
Israeli officials reportedly halted the two MPs on Monday as they were entering Israel from Jordan. The two were detained in a passport office, Opher told the BBC, before being informed that they were not permitted entry on “public order” grounds and being “escorted to a bus” that would take them back to Jordan.
“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 two MPs said in a joint statement on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the UK Foreign Office said
“it is totally unacceptable and deeply concerning that yet again two British MPs have been denied entry to the occupied Palestinian territories by Israel.”
Prinsley, a member of the Board of Deputies, is Jewish.
After neglecting to disclose a Labour Friends of Israel-sponsored, all-expense-paid “solidarity” trip to Israel in May, he was recently found to have violated parliamentary regulations.
The MP was denied entry into Israel 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,” the Population and Immigration Authority told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.
Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang, two British Members of Parliament who were visiting the West Bank in April, were also denied admission. The two planned to “spread hate speech” against Israel, according to Israel.
What are Israel’s reasons for denying entry to British MPs?
In the past, Israeli immigration authorities have accused British Members of Parliament and other visitors of possibly wanting to “spread hate speech” and publicly challenge Israeli security arrangements.
The MPs were examining medical and humanitarian efforts in the West Bank, but according to Israeli officials, there were concerns that the visits would support or promote negative international narratives against Israel.
This typical behavior by Israel includes denying entry to numerous foreign parliamentarians and officials who are considered critical of Israeli policies or associated with boycott movements.
The UK government has called the action unacceptable, expressing disappointment and recognizing the value of parliamentary diplomacy.