Canadian Press: Liberal MP says she was shoved by Israeli officials at West Bank border crossing

OTTAWA — A Liberal MP says she was shoved several times by Israeli border officials as her delegation was denied entry to the West Bank Tuesday morning.

Ontario MP Iqra Khalid said Tuesday she was pushed after trying to check on a member of the roughly 30-person delegation who was pulled aside for additional questioning after the group had been at the Allenby Crossing for several hours.

"I wanted to stay close by because there were three or four officers that were surrounding this young woman. And so I asked if I could be part of the conversation. They said no. So I took two steps back and I just was watching," Khalid said in an interview from Amman, Jordan.

"An Israeli officer came up to me and he was yelling at my face and said, 'Go away,' and he pushed me. I took a step back into the wall and I said, 'Don't touch me, please.' And he said, 'I'll touch you as much as I want,' and he pushed me again. And at that point, another officer came and he pushed me further back."

Khalid said another member of the delegation then came and pulled her back toward the rest of the group.

Khalid said the border officials would have known she was a parliamentarian because they had taken her special passport, which looks different from the standard Canadian document.

B.C. NDP MP Jenny Kwan and Quebec Liberal MP Sameer Zuberi, who are also part of the delegation, both told The Canadian Press they witnessed the shoving incident.

Click image or link to read the news story - https://www.msn.com/en-ca/lifestyle/travel/israel-blocks-canadian-delegation-including-mps-from-entering-the-west-bank/ar-AA1Stmys?ocid=BingNewsVerp

Latest posts

OTTAWA — Housing Minister Gregor Robertson tabled legislation on Thursday to establish the federal government’s new affordable housing agency, but acknowledged Build Canada Homes has no set targets on how many homes it will build.

In December, the Parliamentary Budget Officer released a report that estimated the agency’s efforts would result in 26,000 directly funded units over the next five years. The federal government has said the report does not take into account the units that will result from Build Canada Homes’ partnerships with private developers and its $51-billion infrastructure fund.

Still, the PBO estimates federal spending on housing programs is set to decline by 56 per cent, from $9.8 billion in 2025-26 to $4.3 billion in 2028-29, due to expiration of funding for existing programs and cuts set out in Budget 2025.

“Canada’s non-profit housing stock has dwindled to only about four and a half percent of its total housing stock, well below the G7 average,” said NDP housing critic Jenny Kwan, in an interview with the National Post. “Countries that are doing well in addressing the housing situation is sitting at about 20 per cent.”

Click image or link to read the news story - https://nationalpost.com/news/minister-says-new-housing-agency-has-no-targets-on-number-of-homes-it-will-build

 

Are you ready to take action?

Constituent Resources
Mobile Offices
Contact Jenny

Sign up for updates