9 Hours: 23 Delegates Detained at Jordan Border

A 23-person international delegation was held by Israeli forces at the Allenby/King Hussein Bridge in Jordan for nine hours on Monday before being barred from entering the West Bank. The group included four elected representatives from the United Kingdom and officials from France, Spain, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Greece, Holland, Ireland, and the United States.

The delegation had planned to attend the Second Ramallah Congress, an event organized by Progressive International in partnership with Birzeit University. The gathering was scheduled to include meetings with Palestinian academics, students, and civil society leaders. The trip coincided with the olive harvest season, a period marked by increased tension in the region.

Clive Lewis, a Labour MP, described the detention process to The Guardian. He stated that the group was taken aside and interrogated, noting that some members were shouted at. Lewis said officials questioned their purpose for traveling and the narratives they planned to share. He characterized the experience as deeply unpleasant.

Sam Tarry, a former Labour MP, said he believed the group had a genuine chance of crossing the border. He argued that the decision to detain them was political, driven by a desire to limit witnesses to conditions in the West Bank ahead of upcoming elections. Tarry noted that the detention occurred at the bridge connecting Jordan and the West Bank.

The detention took place while Israeli forces conducted operations against Palestinian olive farmers and international observers. In the first two weeks of October, the UN aid coordination office recorded at least 160 attacks by Israeli settlers linked to the harvest. Many of these incidents occurred with the protection or participation of Israeli forces. Earlier this month, Israeli media reported that Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed officials to pursue exclusion orders against activists visiting olive-harvesting areas.

Lara Bird, an MP for the Scottish National party, said in a statement that she traveled to stand with Palestinians harvesting olives on their own land. She expressed frustration that the group was turned away without a stated reason. Bird questioned why Israel sought to prevent observers from seeing conditions in the occupied West Bank if it had nothing to hide.

Laila Hazaineh, a political coordinator for Progressive International, said the refusal of entry would strengthen the group's determination to engage with Palestinian communities. The delegation included Kate Nevens, an MSP for the Scottish Greens. The Israeli embassy has been contacted for comment.