Two MPs 'astounded' after being denied entry to Israel

[muriel_volestrangler]

Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang said that it was "vital" parliamentarians were able to "witness, firsthand, the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory".

They were refused entry because they intended to "spread hate speech" against Israel, the nation's population and immigration authority said.
...
The Israeli immigration authority said Interior Minister Moshe Arbel denied entry to all four passengers after they were questioned. It accused them of travelling to "document the security forces".
...
The UK Foreign Office said the group was part of a parliamentary delegation. However, Israel's immigration authority said the delegation had not been acknowledged by an Israeli official.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn9133z2v30o

Odd that "documenting the security forces" is seen as grounds for refusal to admit. Outrageous that they do it to to British MPs who are doing it as part of their job.

UK foreign secretary criticises Israel for denying two Labour MPs entry
The foreign secretary, David Lammy, said in a statement on Saturday: “It is unacceptable, counterproductive, and deeply concerning that two British MPs on a parliamentary delegation to Israel have been detained and refused entry by the Israeli authorities.

“I have made clear to my counterparts in the Israeli government that this is no way to treat British parliamentarians, and we have been in contact with both MPs tonight to offer our support.
...
Dame Emily Thornberry, chair of the House of Commons foreign affairs committee, said that Israel would “rue the day that they did this to British parliamentarians”.

Yang and Mohamed said: “We’re astounded at the unprecedented step taken by the Israeli authorities to refuse British MPs entry on our trip to visit the occupied West Bank. It is vital that parliamentarians are able to witness first-hand the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory.”

They added: “We are two, out of scores of MPs, who have spoken out in parliament in recent months on the Israel-Palestine conflict and the importance of complying with international humanitarian law. Parliamentarians should feel free to speak truthfully in the House of Commons without fear of being targeted.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/05/uk-foreign-secretary-criticises-israel-for-denying-two-labour-mps-entry

The awful Tory leader Kemi Badenoch sucked up to her fellow far-right-wingers and said she was fine with this.

[malaise]

1. Watching that tool Kemi Badenoch was worse than

the act itself.

[Mosby]

2. How is traveling to a foreign country part of their job?

What do the citizens of Earley and Woodley and Sheffield Central get out of this free trip of theirs?

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Gosh, I'd had thought you knew what elected politicians do.

Parliaments often send delegations to other countries. It's to make the world a better place.

The citizens of Earley and Woodley and Sheffield Central would, if the Israeli government weren't complete arseholes, have got an increased chance of people not getting mistreated by colonisers.

I love the way you say "free trip" as if this was a vacation. It's so condescending. It's makes you look really big. Honest.

[Mosby]

4. It was a free trip paid for by a couple non profits.

They weren't doing the work of a PM, they went on a "let's shit on Israel for fun" junket.

Why is Labor so obsessed with Israel? Any idea?

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. 50,000 dead in a 18 months, and 50 years of settler colonialism

It's not something a normal person ignores, or handwaves away.

[Mosby]

6. Seventy percent of U.S. adults support Israel's right to defend itself

The vast majority of Americans accept the historical truth that Jews are indigenous to Israel, and those that don't are often motivated by antisemitism² Claiming that Iarael is engaged in apartheid is antisemitic, as well as claiming that the Jewish state shouldn't exist.

The numbers used by Hamas are incorrect.³⁴

¹https://thehill.com/opinion/international/5107276-bipartisan-support-israel-hamas-peace/

²https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/allegation-israel-settler-colonialist-enterprise

³https://www.jns.org/hamas-vastly-inflated-gaza-death-statistics-study-shows/

⁴https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/how-gaza-health-ministry-fakes-casualty-numbers

[sabbat hunter]

7. Are you just referring to the

WB when you refer to settler colonialism? If so that is closer to 60 years now.

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. Closer, but it took a few years to build up, after 1967

We could say "at least 50 years".