Canadian MP says Israeli soldiers shoved her as delegation denied entry

A Canadian delegation that included members of Parliament say they were denied entry into Israel and the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, with one MP saying she was shoved several times by Israeli soldiers at the border.

In interviews with Global News, members of the 30-person delegation said they were not given an official reason for being denied entry, but that some members were told to sign a form effectively declaring themselves security and public safety risks, which a few of them refused to do.

Ontario Liberal MP Iqra Khalid said she was checking on a member of the delegation who had been taken aside for additional questioning after the group had been at the Allenby Crossing between Israel and Jordan for about five hours. The crossing also serves as the entry point to the West Bank from Jordan.

“I was a little concerned for (the delegation member being questioned), she’s a young woman, and so I stayed close and I was told to go away,” Khalid said in an interview from Amman, Jordan.

“I said I would like to stay close so I can just keep an eye on her. I took a couple of steps backwards. And an officer came up to me, screamed in my face, pushed me back into the wall and said, ‘Go away.’ I said, ‘Don’t touch me, please.’ And he pushed me again and said, ‘I’ll touch you as much as I want.'”

Khalid said another officer joined in and also pushed her into some carts, after which some of the delegates grabbed her and pulled her aside before the situation could escalate further.

She said the border officials would have known she and the five other MPs in the group were parliamentarians because they had taken their special passports, which looks different from the standard Canadian document.

“That was a very unfortunate experience,” she said. “I’m a privileged member of Parliament, and if that’s how allies are treated, I can only wonder how people crossing that border are being treated at any given time.”

Khalid said she shared details of the incident with Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand and the minister promised to follow up.

Anand said in a statement on X that Global Affairs Canada “is in contact with the delegation and we have expressed Canada’s objections regarding the mistreatment of these Canadians while attempting to cross.”

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B.C. NDP MP Jenny Kwan told Global News she witnessed the shoving incident. Other delegation members said they were aware of the incident but didn’t say if they saw it themselves.

“The real question is why were we being denied?” Kwan said from Amman. “As members of Parliament, we were never told the reasons why we were being denied. We were just simply denied. And then the rest of the delegation, they just received a standard form that was exactly the same for all of them. No one talked to them about why they were being denied.”

MPs said they were not presented with the form that other delegation members say they were given that mentioned public safety risks.

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Taha Ghayyur, executive director of the human rights advocacy group at Justice for All Canada, said he was presented with the form and did not sign it.

“Essentially, it was asking for us to acknowledge that we have accepted and acknowledged the denial today based on security and safety concerns,” he told Global News in an interview from Amman.

The delegation, sponsored by the group The Canadian-Muslim Vote, were on a “fact-finding mission” that included plans to meet with displaced Palestinians in the West Bank, where the Israeli government recently approved the construction of 764 new homes in Jewish settlements.

Members of the delegation said they wanted to get a first-hand look at the situation amid rising reports of settler violence in the West Bank and broader humanitarian concerns. The delegation had planned to meet with Christian, Jewish and Muslim organizations in various sites including Jerusalem and Janine.

In an interview in Ottawa, Israel’s ambassador to Canada Iddo Moed claimed The Canadian-Muslim Vote is funded by the Canadian chapter of Islamic Relief Worldwide, which the Israeli government listed as a terrorist entity in 2014.

“(The delegation is) directly linked to an organization that is listed as a terror organization in Israel — that really raised our concern,” Moed said. “And when they were getting to the border, they refused to cooperate with the Israeli authorities, and so we determined not to allow them in.”

Moed said he was “not familiar with the exact details of that event” when asked about Khalid’s treatment by the Israeli officials, yet stated there is “no policy whatsoever to manhandle anybody” at the border.

He acknowledged MPs have been part of multiple Canadian delegations to Israel in the past, including one last year, and that Israel doesn’t deny entry to politicians or officials who criticize the Israeli government, as some of the MPs in this latest delegation have.

“If we have an indication that they may be supportive of a terrorist organization, that’s where the red flags go up and the red lights start flashing, and that’s when we want to understand from those people, what exactly are their intentions, and so on,” he said.

“We allow people to come in. We allow them to be critical. We allow to do whatever they like, as long as Israel’s security is not affected.”

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In a statement, The Canadian-Muslim Vote said it was “disgusted but not surprised by the smear campaign being put forward by the Israeli government” and said that its funding comes from qualified donors who believe in a “healthy democracy.”

“We know Canadians will see this for what it is: a rather pathetic attempt by the Israeli government to justify why they blocked Canadian MPs from seeing settlement violence and meeting Muslims, Christians, and Jews in the region,” it said.

The charitable organization lists Islamic Relief Canada as a partner on its website. Its latest financial disclosure says it made over $527,000 last year, most of which came from “other registered charities,” but adds it did not receive donations over $10,000 from non-Canadian citizens or residents.

The group’s statement Tuesday added it also sponsored last year’s delegation to Israel without incident. Moed said the group’s “direct link” to Islamic Relief Worldwide was discovered this year.

The MPs who spoke to Global News, which also included Quebec Liberal MP Sameer Zuberi and Ontario Liberal MP Fares Al Soud, said all of the delegates’ visas and electronic travel authorizations to enter Israel and the West Bank had been approved ahead of time.

Kwan said the Canadian government had informed the Israeli government of the delegation’s travel plans and intentions.

Al Soud, who in April became the first Palestinian-Canadian elected to the House of Commons in 40 years, said he was aware of the possibility of “bumps and hurdles” at the Israeli border given his background and public statements.

“To be entirely frank, I thought that that bump would be me,” he told Global News. “At no moment in time did I think all 30 of us would get denied at once.”

Zuberi said the incident was “quite surprising, given the important relationship Canada has with Israel.”

“This was really an observation mission,” he said. “So much has been said about what’s happening in the region. It’s important for people to see what’s actually happening in the region.

“(These international delegations are) very standard. It’s something I did personally seven years ago as a private citizen, and it’s something that I was looking forward to doing again as a parliamentarian.”

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Delegation members said they are still figuring out what to do next. The group is scheduled to return to Canada on Friday.

Ghayyur of Justice for All Canada said it’s “quite obvious” that gaining entry into Israel “is not really an option anymore.”

“It was very obvious that it was just a blanket rejection and denial, which is at a personal level very deeply hurtful,” he said. “It makes you feel like a criminal when you have done nothing wrong and you went with a very clear mission.

“What we witnessed today in terms of just the rejection itself really helped all members of the delegation really get a taste of what it is like to be a Palestinian, whether you’re crossing the borders or you are crossing among several hundred checkpoints across Palestine, how it impacts your humanity and dignity.”

The National Council of Canadian Muslims says the Israeli government’s refusal to allow Canadian parliamentarians into the country raises serious concerns about transparency and accountability.

“Clearly, given the actions of the Israeli government, I think it’s clear to say now that Israel under this government is neither our friend nor our ally, nor do they share our values,” the group’s CEO Stephen Brown said in an interview.

Canada formally recognized Palestinian statehood in September but said some conditions must be met first, including elections in the new year that Hamas can’t contest.

—With files from Global’s Bryan Mullan, the Canadian Press and the Associated Press