Two Labour MPs denied entry to Israel

"Opher told the BBC they were held in a passport office before being handed a "legal form insisting that we leave the country" and then "escorted to a bus" back to Jordan. The Stroud MP said he was told they were not being admitted on "public order" grounds and that representations from the Foreign Office to Israeli authorities had been rejected."

"He said: "It's very disappointing. We are both doctors and we were really just going to look at healthcare facilities in the West Bank to see if there was anything we could do to support them." "We weren't in any way trying to undermine the Israelis, just trying to see what we could do in the West Bank" where, he said, they had been told healthcare was getting increasingly difficult."

Two Labour MPs, Simon Opher and Peter Prinsley, were denied entry into Israel while traveling to the occupied West Bank on a CAABU-organised visit to assess medical and humanitarian work. Israeli authorities stopped them at the Jordan-Israel crossing, held them in a passport office, handed them a legal form insisting they leave, and escorted them back to Jordan. Israeli officials cited "public order" grounds and rejected Foreign Office representations. The MPs said they are doctors aiming to view and support West Bank healthcare facilities and had planned meetings with the British Consul General, Palestinian and Israeli human rights organisations.

Read at www.bbc.com