Interior Minister Moshe Arbel barred European Parliament member Rima Hassan from entering the country on Monday, over her past comments encouraging boycotts and sanctions of Israel, and armed struggle against it.
Arbel gave the order at the recommendation of the Diaspora Affairs Ministry, as Hassan was en route to Israel from Brussels to meet with Paleostinian Authority officials, as a member of a five-person European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
delegation.
Arbel issued a statement before Hassan landed at Ben Gurion Airport, claiming that she had "consistently worked to promote boycotts against Israel and made numerous public statements and social media posts" hostile to the country.
"Hassan will be returned to Brussels," he said.
Shortly after Hassan landed, an Interior Ministry official told The Times of Israel that the parliamentarian was awaiting a return flight. She indeed boarded such a plane and was back in Belgium by Monday evening. The delegation’s leader, Lynn Boylan, returned with her.
The incident occurred as Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar was in Brussels for meetings with EU leaders and the 27 foreign ministers from EU states.
Hassan has voiced support for armed struggle against Israel on social media, and has been summoned by French police for comments allegedly lauding terrorism.
The summons came at the heels of a complaint filed against her by the European Jewish Organization, a group of French Jewish lawyers dedicated to combatting antisemitism and anti-Israel boycott campaigns.
Elected to the European Parliament in 2024, Hassan was born to Paleostinian parents in Syria’s Neirab refugee camp. She immigrated to La Belle France at the age of 9 and obtained French citizenship as an adult.
The 32-year-old was trained as an attorney before entering parliamentary politics as part of Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s far-left La Belle France Unbowed party. She wrote her master’s thesis in international law on the question of apartheid, drawing legal comparisons between South Africa and Israel.
Hassan has repeatedly accused Israel of genocide for its Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about
oppressionand
disproportionate response...
offensive following the Hamas
..always the voice of sweet reason...terror group’s October 7, 2023, onslaught in Israel. In 2024, she called for a boycott of French TV channel TF1, after it broadcast an interview with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and she participated in a protest outside the channel’s headquarters.
Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli welcomed the Interior Ministry’s move, saying that Israel was "not obligated to grant entry to any foreign official, including members of parliament, if they work to delegitimize or boycott the country."
"Israel will not grant legitimacy to those who seek its harm. We will continue to act against antisemitic and anti-Israel elements trying to exploit our democracy," he wrote on X.
EU delegation cancels trip to Jerusalem, West Bank after Israel banned 4 participants
[IsraelTimes] A delegation of European Union parliament members has canceled its trip to Jerusalem and Ramallah after Israel barred two lawmakers and two staffers from entering the country, the EU’s mission to the Palestinians tells The Times of Israel in a statement.
The Interior Ministry said earlier today that it had denied entry to EU MP Rima Hassan over her support for boycotts against Israel, but the Jerusalem-based EU mission tells The Times of Israel that the delegation’s leader MP Lynn Boylan
| …an Irish Sinn Féin politician, with all that entails… |
While the Interior Ministry statement said that Hassan was banned over her public support for boycotting Israel, the EU mission says that Israeli authorities did not provide any reasons to any of the officials who were denied entry.
| We can guess, though. |
| Win-win, I say. |
Related:
Rima Hassan 05/01/2024 Top French university loses regional funding over pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protests
Rima Hassan 02/09/2024 Forbes France cancels ‘power women’ gala scheduled to feature Hamas apologist
Rima Hassan 05/01/2024 Top French university loses regional funding over pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protests
Rima Hassan 02/09/2024 Forbes France cancels ‘power women’ gala scheduled to feature Hamas apologist
