Six members of Canada’s parliament traveling from Jordan were denied entry to the West Bank on Tuesday by Israeli authorities who accused the delegation of being sponsored by “a terror entity.”
Ontario Member of Parliament Iqra Khalid, from Prime Minister Mark Carney’s ruling Liberal Party, said she was part of the delegation and was shoved several times by Israeli border officials.
She said she was pushed after trying to check on a member of the roughly 30-person delegation who was pulled aside for additional questioning after the group had been at the Allenby border crossing between Jordan and the Israeli-controlled West Bank.
Khalid said the border officials were able to see she was a lawmaker as they had taken her special passport, which looks different from a standard Canadian document.
The lawmakers were on a trip sponsored by Canadian-Muslim Vote, a charity group.
Israel’s embassy in Canada told AFP in a statement that the charity receives funding from Islamic Relief Canada, a subsidiary of Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW), which Jerusalem designates as a terror organization.
IRW has rejected Israel’s long-standing charge that it is a terrorist group with ties to Hamas.
Illustrative: A man enters Islamic Relief Worldwide’s headquarters in Birmingham, UK. (video screenshot)
Jenny Kwan, an opposition lawmaker with Canada’s left-wing New Democratic Party, said the delegation gave Israeli authorities prior warning about their trip, which included a range of planned meetings with aid groups, as well as Palestinian and Jewish civil society leaders.
“The Government of Canada formally notified the Government of Israel ahead of the delegation’s travel,” she said in a statement.
“Electronic travel authorizations to enter the West Bank were initially approved,” but on arrival at the Allenby Bridge crossing “the entire delegation was denied entry to the West Bank.”
Kwan told AFP that before leaving Canada she considered the prospect that the group would encounter difficulties because of Carney’s decision to recognize Palestinian statehood at the United Nations General Assembly in September.
“I wondered whether or not this would be an issue,” she says, but ultimately put it out of her mind after the trip was approved.
Kwan said the delegation returned to Jordan’s capital, Amman.
Canada’s Foreign Minister Anita Anand said on social media that Ottawa “has expressed Canada’s objections regarding the mistreatment of these Canadians.”
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
