Israel denies entry to Canadian MPs trying to reach occupied West Bank | Israel-Palestine conflict News

Israel has denied entry to a group of Canadian lawmakers who were seeking to reach the occupied West Bank to hold talks with Palestinian officials and human rights advocates, Canadian civil society groups say.

Six members of Canada’s Parliament were trying to reach the West Bank from neighbouring Jordan when the Israeli authorities turned them back, the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) said in a statement on Tuesday.

NCCM said the MPs – who were travelling alongside Canadian community leaders as part of a trip organised by The Canadian-Muslim Vote, a nonprofit group – were told they were considered “public safety threats”.

“This development is deeply troubling and extremely disappointing,” NCCM CEO Stephen Brown said in the statement.

“Israeli authorities had issued electronic travel authorizations to all members of the delegation, yet lawful observers, including elected Canadian officials, were ultimately barred from entry as ‘public safety threats’,” he said.

“While we are saddened by this outcome, it regrettably aligns with a broader pattern by the Israeli government of restricting access to those seeking to independently witness the realities in the occupied territories.”

In a statement on social media, The Canadian-Muslim Vote said “the inability of Canadian elected officials and observers to access the region is a matter of public interest and raises important questions for Canadians.”

The Israeli Ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs, as well as the Israeli military, did not respond to Al Jazeera’s requests for comment on Tuesday.

Global Affairs Canada, the country’s foreign ministry, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Israel maintains control over all the crossings into the occupied West Bank and routinely turns away foreign citizens it views as critical of Israeli policies and human rights abuses against Palestinians.

The Canadian delegation included six parliamentarians, according to a report from Canada’s public broadcaster: five from Canada’s governing Liberal Party and one from the left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP).

The NDP MP, Jenny Kwan, told CBC News earlier this week that she expected Israel to obstruct the delegation’s visit. “At any juncture, anything could happen,” Kwan said.

‘What are they trying to hide?’

Fawad Kalsi, CEO of Penny Appeal Canada, a relief and development organisation, was among the 30 delegates turned away on Tuesday.

He told Al Jazeera that members of the group were held for several hours at Allenby Bridge between Jordan and the West Bank before Israeli border authorities said they would not be allowed to enter the Palestinian territory.

“We were denied entry as a group due to [being deemed] a security risk – that’s what we were told,” Kalsi said, stressing that the delegates were on an educational, fact-finding trip to witness what is happening in the West Bank.

“[This] is really concerning,” he said. “Why were we blocked? Civil society members, charities – ‘What are they trying to hide?’ is the question that comes to mind.”

The Israeli agency that oversees affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories, COGAT, told CBC News on Tuesday that the group arrived at Allenby Bridge “without prior coordination” and members were denied entry for “security reasons”.

But Kalsi noted that he and the other delegates had received Israel Electronic Travel Authorization permits before they reached the border. Those permits state that “entry into Israel will be subjected to an inspection and approval of the border control officer at the border crossing”.

He told Al Jazeera that Canada must get answers from Israel about why this happened – and why Canadian parliamentarians, in particular, were deemed a safety risk.

“I think it’s super, super important for our government to ask those questions and get those answers,” Kalsi said.

Kwan, the NDP lawmaker, also said in a statement that Canada had informed Israel of the delegation before it travelled.

“I categorically reject the assertion that elected officials and civil society organizations engaging in humanitarian and fact-finding work pose any risk to public safety, security, or public order,” she said.

“The denial of entry to elected parliamentarians and civil society organizations engaged in peaceful, transparent parliamentary activity raises serious concerns regarding the openness of channels for dialogue.”

Call for sanctions

Canada has been a staunch ally of Israel for decades.

But the Canadian government has faced sustained calls to cut off its longstanding support for the country amid Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 70,000 people since October 2023.

The West Bank also has seen a surge in Israeli military and settler violence in the shadow of Israel’s war on Gaza, with tens of thousands of Palestinians forced from their homes over the past year.

On Tuesday, advocacy group Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) condemned Israel’s decision to block the Canadian delegation.

The group called on Canada to impose diplomatic sanctions against the Israeli government and expel the country’s ambassador in response.

“Israel is an illegitimate occupying power in Palestine, and simply does not have the right to bar entry to Canadian lawmakers into the country,” the group’s president, Yara Shoufani, said in a statement.

Shoufani noted that the entry denial comes just months after Canada, along with several of its European allies, announced plans to recognise an independent Palestinian state.

“Just months after Canada recognized Palestinian statehood, Israel is demonstrating its apartheid rule over Palestine and fundamental denial of Palestinian self-determination. Canada must impose consequences on Israel in response to this major violation of diplomacy,” she said.