OTTAWA — A GTA MP says she was shoved repeatedly by Israeli border agents in what another MP described as “angry” and “aggressive” behaviour when they were denied entry into the West Bank as part of a Canadian delegation Tuesday.
The incident prompted Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand to object to the “mistreatment of these Canadians,” while Israeli authorities — who control entry into the Palestinian territory — confirmed they are reviewing the incident.
Iqra Khalid, the Liberal MP for Mississauga—Erin Mills, told the Star by phone from Jordan that she was one of six parliamentarians in a group of about 30 people who were held for several hours at a border crossing, despite having already obtained electronic visas. Khalid said one of the delegates travelling with them was being questioned by several officers, and so she approached to “make sure she was OK.”
When asked to back away, Khalid said she took a couple steps back but kept a close watch on what was happening.
“An Israeli officer came up to me, to my face, and started yelling, telling me to go away,” Khalid said.
Then Khalid said the officer “shoved me into the wall,” prompting her to tell him not to touch her.
Khalid said the officer responded “I will touch you as much as I want” and then pushed her again, before another officer joined in to shove her back into an open area of the room.
“I got pushed with enough force that I almost fell backwards,” she said. “I got caught by a delegate, and a couple more delegates came and took me away before the situation escalated further.”
Anand said Global Affairs Canada was in contact with the travelling delegation.
