Israel bars international delegation from West Bank conference at Birzeit University

Israeli authorities on Tuesday barred an international delegation of 23 lawmakers, politicians and academics from entering the occupied West Bank to attend an international conference at Birzeit University near Ramallah. The university said in a statement that the delegation was due to participate in a conference organized by its Ibrahim Abu-Lughod Institute of International Studies, north of Ramallah, with participants from several countries.

Israeli authorities first prevented the delegation from entering the West Bank through the Allenby Bridge, also known as King Hussein Bridge, with Jordan on Monday, the university said. The delegation attempted to enter again on Tuesday but was denied entry for a second time, the university’s public relations department told Anadolu. According to the conference organizers, members of the delegation were detained and questioned for several hours before being turned back.

The two-day international conference, titled “Global South Solidarity and Resistance to Imperialism,” was scheduled to begin on Tuesday. The delegation includes British Labour lawmaker Clive Lewis, Scottish National Party lawmaker Lorna Baird and Scottish Green Party lawmaker Kate Nevens, according to the university. It also includes Spanish Senator Josu Estarrona Elizondo and former British lawmaker Sam Tarry. The delegation was also scheduled to meet students and academics at Birzeit University and representatives of Palestinian civil society organizations as part of the conference program aimed at strengthening international solidarity with the Palestinian people under occupation.

The program also includes participation in activities supporting Palestinian farmers amid escalating attacks by Israeli occupiers during the olive harvest season, which began in early October. The denial comes as Palestinian institutions, including universities, say they face Israeli restrictions affecting their contacts with international academics, lawmakers and delegations. ​​​​​​​Israel was established in 1948 on Palestinian land seized by armed Zionist groups that carried out massacres and displaced at least 750,000 Palestinians.

Israel occupied the remaining Palestinian territories in 1967.