Israel denies entry to Canadian lawmakers & Muslim delegates traveling to Judea & Samaria due to 'security reasons'

Six members of the Canadian parliament and a group of Muslim delegates were barred from entering Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) on Tuesday, while attempting to cross from Jordan into the Israeli-controlled part of Samaria via the Allenby Bridge border crossing.

The Israeli embassy in Canada told AFP that the charity “Canadian-Muslim Vote,” which sponsored the trip, receives funding from Islamic Relief Canada (IRC), a subsidiary of Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) that is designated as a terror group by Israel.

Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand wrote on 𝕏 that her ministry is “in contact with the delegation and we have expressed Canada’s objections regarding the mistreatment of these Canadians while attempting to cross.”

COGAT, the IDF unit tasked with handling humanitarian issues in Judea and Samaria, said that the group also arrived “without prior coordination,” which the group denies.

“Following checks conducted by the security authorities in coordination with Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Population and Immigration Authority, their entry into the Judea and Samaria area was denied for security reasons,” COGAT stated.

Jenny Kwan, an opposition lawmaker in the left-wing New Democratic Party, said that the government had “formally notified the Government of Israel ahead of the delegation’s travel.”

“Electronic travel authorizations to enter the West Bank were initially approved,” she said, but on arrival at the crossing, the entire delegation was denied entry to the West Bank.”

The MPs were Fares Al Soud (Liberal), Iqra Khalid (Liberal), Jenny Kwan (New Democratic Party), Sameer Zuberi (Liberal), Aslam Rana (Liberal), and Gurbux Saini (Liberal).

They are all part of the “Vote Palestine” group, which proposes an arms embargo on Israel, demands to cut “all engagement with illegal Israeli settlements,” and to “address anti-Palestinian racism,” among other actions.

The delegation planned to meet with Palestinian Authority officials and Palestinian refugees and Jewish, Muslim, and Christian advocates in the West Bank and Israel.

Israel’s ambassador to Canada, Iddo Moed, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) that the group’s links to IRW were the reason for the denial of entry.

“For us, it was reason to check with members of this delegation what their intentions were, and since they did not co-operate with the authorities on the border, their entry was denied,” Moed said. “The issue really is the link to a terrorist organization.”

Islamic Relief Canada CEO Tufail Hussain later denied those claims, telling the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that Israel’s statement about the organization are “false and reckless.”

Hussain claimed that “The IRC staff who were denied entry into the West Bank by Israeli authorities today had received pre-authorization to enter by the very same embassy making these ridiculous accusations. Claims that our charitable resources support terrorism are baseless and dangerous and they place aid workers and the beneficiaries we serve at risk.”

Over the last two years, Israel has several times denied entry to groups, including foreign parliament members, over links to terror groups or their previous anti-Israel or pro-terrorism statements.