"How is it that members of parliament are a public safety concern?' Canadian MP Jenny Kwan tells Al Jazeera. A Canadian lawmaker who was denied entry to the occupied West Bank, alongside fellow politicians and civil society leaders, has dismissed Israel's claims that the delegation posed a threat to public safety. Jenny Kwan, a Canadian MP with the left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP), questioned whether Canada's recognition of an independent Palestinian state earlier this year contributed to Israel's decision to block the group."
"Kwan said another female MP in the group was manhandled by Israeli border agents while attempting to keep an eye on a delegate who was being taken for additional interrogation. She was shoved not once, not twice, but multiple times by border agents there, Kwan said. A member of parliament was handled in that way If you were just an everyday person, what else could have happened?"
Jenny Kwan and five other Canadian MPs were among about 30 delegates denied entry to the Israeli-occupied West Bank after Israeli authorities deemed them a public safety risk. The delegation, organized by The Canadian-Muslim Vote, was turned back to Jordan at the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge after an hours-long security check. Kwan reported that a female MP was physically shoved by Israeli border agents during additional interrogation of a delegate, raising concerns about mistreatment. The group planned meetings with Palestinian community members and Jewish families to document daily realities amid surging Israeli military and settler violence. Kwan rejected the public safety justification.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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