Israel bans Irish activists from entering West Bank

Israel banned two pro-Palestine Irish activists from entering the occupied West Bank on Friday, claiming that they planned to harass the occupation forces, Quds Press has reported.

When the activists arrived at Ben Gurion Airport along with 25 colleagues, they underwent the usual litany of security checks. The Israelis claimed that the two in question had been prevented from entering the occupied Palestinian territories on a previous occasion due to their participation in pro-Palestine solidarity protests.

According to Haaretz, the whole group of activists was accused of planning to harass the Israeli occupation forces through their participation in pro-Palestine activities. Nevertheless, all were allowed to enter occupied Palestine apart from the two with the record of being banned.

Quds Press pointed out that, based solely on media reports, the number of foreign activists who have been prevented from entering the occupied Palestinian territories by Israel has increased nine-fold in the past five years.

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