Israeli authorities announced yesterday, Monday, that they had denied entry the previous day to two left-wing Members of the European Parliament from Sweden, who had planned to visit the occupied West Bank in particular.
“At the request of Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, and in accordance with Israeli law governing entry into Israel, the Population and Immigration Authority yesterday denied entry into Israeli territory to two Swedish Members of the European Parliament from the Left Party, Jonas Sjöstedt and Hanna Gedin, who wished to visit the Palestinian Authority,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in a press release.
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Israeli diplomats accused the two MEPs of expressing “hostile positions” and “spreading baseless accusations against Israel, accusing it of genocide, starvation, and intentionally targeting children and medical personnel” in the war in the Gaza Strip.
In June, an international commission of inquiry mandated by the UN accused Israel of “targeting” children in the Gaza Strip, denouncing once again the ongoing “genocide” of Palestinians.
The Israeli government responded by calling the commission a “defamatory farce” and accusing Hamas of “using children as human shields.”
Jonas Sjöstedt complained on Facebook on Sunday that he and Hanna Gedin “were prevented from entering the country and continuing” their journey “to the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.”
They had planned meetings with NGOs, “including Save the Children,” visits “to refugee camps,” and meetings “with Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations,” though “they were not planning any meetings with the Palestinian Authority,” the Swedish MEP clarified.
According to Mr. Sjöstedt, the delegations “from the European Union and Sweden protested” this decision by the Israeli authorities.
Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergård stated that the Swedish Embassy provided assistance to the two elected officials. However, each country “has its own rules regarding entry,” she added, noting that Stockholm has issued a travel advisory regarding travel to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
“Why Jonas Sjöstedt and Hanna Gedin chose to go there is a question they themselves must answer,” the minister told the newspaper Dagens Nyheter.
The entry ban on the two members of the European Parliament constitutes “an attempt to impose silence by force and to transform criticism of the occupation into an accusation, with blatant disregard for international law and the immunity of parliamentary work,” commented Raouhi Fatoua, President of the Palestinian National Council, the legislative body of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which is headquartered in the West Bank.
In 2019, Israel also barred two U.S. congresswomen, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, members of the left wing of the Democratic Party, who intended to visit the occupied Palestinian Territories, due to their support for a campaign to boycott Israel, following a directive from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Source: KYPE
