International delegation barred by Israel from entering West Bank to support olive harvest

An international group of MPs and campaigners say they have been prevented from entering the occupied West Bank by the Israeli military, as they travelled to support Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest.

Three British MPs and one member of the Spanish Senate were among those refused entry as they tried to enter the West Bank from the Allenby/King Hussein Bridge crossing from Jordan.

They had planned to support olive growers facing escalating violence during the harvest.

The delegation of 23 people, organised by Progressive International, also planned to meet Palestinian students at Ramallah’s Birzeit University, as well as civil society leaders.

Show caption: Scottish National Party MP Lara Bird said the delegation was…

Delegates also came from France, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Greece, the Netherlands and the US.

“Today I was denied entry into the West Bank, alongside other parliamentary colleagues from across Europe,” said Scottish National Party MP Lara Bird.

“We were held for eight hours, interrogated and ultimately prevented from crossing the border,” she wrote on X.

Mr Bird said they had not been told by the Israeli military why they were barred from entering.

“I came to stand alongside Palestinians being attacked for harvesting olives on their own land. Instead, we were turned away, with no reason given,” she said.

Show caption: British Labour MP Clive Lewis said he was detained for more …

British Labour MP Clive Lewis said he was also detained for more than eight hours, interrogated, and “made to feel as though we had done something wrong”.

“We went to show our support for the Palestinian people and highlight the terrible injustice and violence being perpetrated against them,” he wrote on X.

Scottish Greens MSP Kate Nevens and former Labour MP Sam Tarry were also denied entry, along with Josu Estarrona Elizondo, a representative of the Basque EH Bildu party in the Spanish senate.

The delegation was barred as settler violence in the West Bank escalates, with attacks by Israeli forces on Palestinian olive farmers and journalists and activists who have come to support them.

There were at least 160 settler attacks on Palestinian growers in the first two weeks of October, according to the UN.

European diplomats and a French mayor were attacked in the West Bank this month as they went to support farmers. Brad Lander, a Democrat candidate for Congress in the mid terms in New York, was among dozens of people detained for supporting olive farmers last week.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz is reported to have instructed officials to pursue exclusion orders against activists travelling to support the Palestinian olive harvest, according to Israeli media.