‘Aggressive, hostile’: Canadian lawmakers slam Israel after being barred from West Bank

Canadian lawmakers have condemned Israel after a delegation of 30 Canadians, including six Members of Parliament, was detained for hours and ultimately denied entry into the occupied West Bank during an official visit.

Israeli authorities blocked the group on Tuesday at the King Hussein Bridge (Allenby) crossing between Jordan and the occupied West Bank, holding them for five hours before refusing entry without explanation.

“Once we presented ourselves at the border with Jordan and the West Bank, Israeli authorities held us there for five hours, and after five hours, then chose to not give us entry,” said Quebec Liberal MP Sameer Zuberi. “It’s really unfortunate.”

Zuberi said the decision was particularly troubling given the delegation’s public profiles and stated purpose.

“It is deeply concerning and challenging to think that we have been refused entry when we are public figures, well on the record, calling for the respect of everyone,” he said, describing the move as “a wrongful decision on the part of Israeli authorities.”

The three-day visit, organized by Canadian-Muslim Vote (TCMV), a registered Canadian non-profit charity, was intended to include meetings with humanitarian organizations and displaced Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Each delegate, except the lawmakers, was asked to sign a form stating that the reason for denial is "public security or public safety or public order considerations."

Mississauga-Erin Mills MP Iqra Khalid, one of the delegation’s members, said she was yelled at and pushed by Israeli forces.

Recounting the “aggressive and hostile behavior” by the Israeli military, Khalid said she was watching another delegate being questioned by several Israeli officers when she approached to make sure that the delegate was safe.

An officer forced her to move back, she told CBC News, and then another officer came towards her.

"He was yelling and screaming at my face, telling me to go away, and he pushed me back into the wall," Khalid said.

"At that point, I said, 'Please don't touch me,' and he said, 'I will touch you as much as I want,' and pushed me again."

Iddo Moed, the Israeli ambassador to Canada, claimed that the delegation was denied entry because of TCMV links to an organization that has been listed by the occupying regime as a “terrorist organization.”

Reacting to the Israeli action, TCMV, the group sponsoring the trip, said that it is "disgusted but not surprised" by the Israeli regime’s response to the Canadian group's attempted entry into the West Bank.

"TCMV is a proud donor-funded organization that receives contributions from qualified [donors], and our support comes from folks who believe that a healthy democracy belongs to all of us. Clearly, that's not something that Israel believes," the group said in a statement.

TCMV said it believes Canadians will view the move as "a rather pathetic attempt by the Israeli government to justify why they blocked Canadian MPs from seeing settlement violence and meeting Muslims, Christians, and Jews in the region." 

Vancouver MP Jenny Kwan stated that the Canadian government had informed Tel Aviv of the planned trip, adding that all arrangements and documentation were completed in advance of the trip.

"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," Kwan said.

"The use of security and public order narratives to limit legitimate fact-finding work is completely unacceptable."

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Another member of the Canadian delegation described the Israeli decision as "really concerning."

"Why were we blocked — civil society members, charities? What are they trying to hide?" Fawad Kalsi, the CEO of Penny Appeal Canada, a relief and development organization based in Mississauga, Ontario, told Al Jazeera.

The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) noted that all members of the delegation had received the electronic travel authorizations required to enter occupied Palestine, adding that it was foreseeable that "Israel does not want the world to see what is happening with the illegal settlements in the West Bank.”

Taha Ghayyur, executive director of Justice for All Canada, who was part of the delegation, said, “We felt insulted. We felt absolutely rejected for reasons that we have no idea.”

Meanwhile, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand has expressed her country’s objections regarding the “mistreatment” of the delegation.

"Global Affairs is in contact with the delegation, and we have expressed Canada’s objections regarding the mistreatment of these Canadians while attempting to cross," Anand wrote in a statement on X.

The latest development comes as the Israeli regime has escalated its raids across the occupied West Bank since October 7, 2023, when it launched a genocidal war on Gaza. Israeli forces and settlers have killed hundreds of Palestinians in the occupied territory since then.

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