Israel turns back 23-member delegation heading to Birzeit conference
British and Spanish lawmakers were among those held for hours at the Allenby Crossing and then refused entry to the West Bank, Birzeit University said.
Israeli authorities refused entry on Tuesday to an international delegation of parliamentarians, politicians and academics travelling to a conference at Birzeit University, according to the university and the organisers.
Birzeit said the group numbered 23 people from several countries. WAFA named among them British Labour MP Clive Lewis, former MP Sam Tarry, Scottish Green MSP Kate Nevens and Spanish senator Josu Estarrona Elizondo. The organisers said members were questioned for several hours at the Allenby Crossing from Jordan before being turned away.
The conference, organised by the university's Ibrahim Abu-Lughod Institute of International Studies under the title "Global South Solidarity and Resistance to Imperialism", opened the same day. The visitors had also planned to join farmers in the olive harvest.
The university said Palestinian institutions must be able to keep working with international colleagues. Israeli authorities did not give a public reason for the refusal.
Reported from
- WAFA (English)27 Oct
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