Two British MPs, Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed, were denied entrance to Israel on Saturday, after an investigation reportedly revealed that the two wished to enter the country to document the activities of security forces and spread anti-Israel hatred, Israel's Population and Immigration Authority announced.
The two parliamentarians landed at Ben-Gurion Airport at 2:30 pm on Saturday after flying in from Luton with their two aides. At airport security, the passengers claimed to be part of an official delegation visiting Israel on behalf of the British parliament.
However, the Population and Immigration Authority claimed this was untrue as no official in Israel had approved the arrival of the delegation. During questioning, the passengers reportedly revealed that the purpose of their arrival was to "document security forces and spread hate speech against Israel." As a result, Interior Minister Moshe Arbel decided to refuse entry to the four and subsequently ordered their removal from Israel. However, on Saturday night, British foreign secretary David Lammy confirmed it was indeed a parliamentary delegation. "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." (Read More)
