My five-year travel ban by Israel is an insult to the European Parliament

Since I was elected to the European Parliament in June last year, I have focused a huge amount of my work on Palestine and the need for an EU response to Israel’s genocide based on international law.

Over the last two years, we have seen Israel engage in a genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people in Gaza, and escalating their brutal annexation of the West Bank. 

In all this time, the principles and letter of international law has been completely disregarded - both by Israel and the global powers that have provided diplomatic and political cover to the Israeli Government.

Last autumn, I was honoured to be elected as chair of the European Parliament Delegation for Relations with Palestine. The role of the delegation is to promote relations between the parliament and both the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian civil society. 

Everything I do in this role is guided by the principles of human rights and international law and the need for parliamentarians to understand the realities on the ground and what international law requires of the institutions we represent.

Another crucial element of the delegation’s work is undertaking missions to Palestine to meet and engage with Palestinian political leadership and civil society directly.

The EU is also the single largest donor of humanitarian aid to Palestine and by participating on missions, MEPs can see firsthand how these EU funds are used.

Unfortunately, this element of the delegation’s work has been frustrated at every turn by the Israeli authorities.

Cancelled, and deported

In February, despite authorisation being granted, we were forced to cancel our mission as myself, delegation member Rima Hassan MEP and two senior civil servants were detained at Ben Gurion Airport by Israeli authorities and subsequently deported.

It is important to note, that Israeli-elected representatives travel freely to the EU institutions. The EU’s own EEAS refers to Israel as sharing the "same values of democracy" and the relationship between the two is "one of the most wide ranging and deepest relationships that the EU enjoys with any third country." 

If this is truly the case, what does it say for that relationship when, the European Parliament’s own elected representatives and staff are treated with such contempt?

In the spirit of cooperation, DPAL set out to draw a line under the incident and instead to reorganise the mission unobstructed by Israeli authorities.

Five-year ban

That reorganised mission took place this week without my participation as chair, as only three days before I was due to travel, I was informed that I would be blocked by Israeli authorities and that I was also subject to a five-year travel ban.

The reasons for the ban were not specific, instead a whole list of possible reasons was cited, from the deeply-offensive and wholly untrue charge of ‘Holocaust denial’ to the bizarre charge of calling for ICC arrest warrants to be upheld. 

I would have thought that advocating for the upholding of international law should be a common position held by MEPs?

As chair, I made the difficult decision to allow the delegation to proceed in my absence in order that the vital work of engagement with Palestinians in the West Bank could continue. 

However, this treatment by Israeli authorities is an insult to the European Parliament and its elected representatives and is certainly not the behavior of a democracy.

I am unapologetic for publicly calling for international law to be upheld and for an end to the carnage in Gaza and the unabated violence in the West Bank.  When I speak, I do so on the basis that I have an electoral mandate and a right to freedom of expression.  Democracy and freedom of expression being core tenets of the EU. 

Double standard

There are many MEPs who will use their mandate to advocate for Israel, no one is preventing them from carrying out their duties on missions. In fact, the Delegation for Relations with Israel is in Israel this week and their chair, and all their members will have no issue in travelling and engaging with their counterparts.

Our delegation however is not being treated as an equal parliamentary body equally deserving of the respect and protection of the institution. 

We cannot alter the fact that Israel is an occupying power as confirmed by the International Court of Justice and is in violation of international law by its continued presence in the West Bank. The European Parliament therefore should not accept that the occupier is blocking MEPs from engaging with the occupied peoples it is mandated to do so. 

We must ask ourselves, if the Delegation for Relations with Ukraine was being blocked by the Russian government, would the parliament remain silent? Of course they would not, they would rightly stand up for the right of MEPs to engage with the Ukrainian people. 

This is a crucial time for the Palestinian people.

As a fragile ceasefire holds, settler violence grows in the West Bank and focus seems to be shifting to a long-term solution, the Delegation for Palestine is being forced out of the picture. 

It is time for the EU leadership to stand up for the right of MEPs to do their job especially those who wish to engage with this issue based on respect for human rights and the upholding of international law.   

Failure to take real action now will demonstrate that a foreign power can dictate the terms of MEPs work - even in countries which they have no lawful jurisdiction over.   

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