Two Labour MPs set off on Saturday morning for a planned visit to the West Bank when Israeli officials stopped them in their tracks.
On touchdown, Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed were interrogated and had their phones confiscated. They were refused entry point-blank, and sent packing the very next day: all on the grounds that they were there to “spread anti-Israel hate”.
Now it is Rule #1 of the Zionist playbook to shut out as many NGOs, charities, international journalists, aid workers, United Nations officials, etc. whilst meting out collective punishment on the Palestinian people. That much the British government can handle.
But Israel detaining and deporting its own representatives? That’s proved a step too far.
Parliamentary theatrics
Israel’s move to block Labour MPs entering the country is nothing short of a diplomatic snub for daring to pry into its affairs.
After providing political and material support for Israel’s genocide since assuming office, foreign secretary David Lammy suddenly found his calling in stepping up against this grievous injustice.
It is unacceptable, counterproductive, and deeply concerning that two British MPs on a parliamentary delegation to Israel have been detained and refused entry by the Israeli authorities.
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) April 5, 2025
He branded Israel’s behaviour “unacceptable, counterproductive and deeply concerning”. Labour MP Emily Thornbury chimed in: “I think that it’s an insult to Britain and I think it’s an insult to Parliament.” And so the refrain went on and on.
Since arriving home I’ve been inundated with messages of support from hundreds of MPs from all parties, and from constituents across Earley & Woodley.
We are united as British MPs, standing together against this unprecedented decision. Thank you to everyone for your solidarity. pic.twitter.com/KpmIuuEmfR
— Yuan Yang (@YuanfenYang) April 7, 2025
Kemi Badenoch, the chief troll of the Tory Party – remember them? – struck back at the government by claiming Israel had the right to “control its borders”.
As intended, this has created a furious row in Parliament and rounds of recriminations in the press and online. Labour MPs even gathered today for a solidarity snap to show their support for the politicians barred entry to Israel.
“It’s shocking that we have Labour MPs who other countries will not allow through”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch says countries must be able to “control their borders” after two Labour MPs were denied entry to Israel#BBCLauraK https://t.co/49MSD0PIQI pic.twitter.com/7QeK1uCYrs
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) April 6, 2025
Elephant in the room
The last three days have acted as a stark reminder of why millions of people hate the whole political system.
The entire establishment has been more animated by a row of who should or should not be let into Israel than by Israel’s genocidal actions throughout the last eighteen months.
Never mind the starved and displaced children of Gaza; nor Israel attempting to ethnically cleanse the besieged Strip of Palestinian refugees.
Since the ceasefire was broken by Netanyahu, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been butchered, in some of the most intense bombing since the genocide began.
At the time of writing, Nasser hospital is being blown to pieces in Gaza; and journalists and aid workers are being targeted by the Israeli state.
All the while, these parliamentary cretins are solely worried about Britain’s bruised prestige on the world stage.
In the midst of all this coverage, there has been no actual mention of the social conditions that Israeli authorities did not want Labour MPs to see.
The ‘free press’ has read instead like gossip columns, rather than even explaining why the trip was organised by the Medical Aid for Palestinians in the first place.
There has been no mention of the Israeli fanatical mobs that maraud around the West Bank, lynching Palestinians. No mention of the drastic rise of illegal outposts on the hilltops in Nablus. No mention of the silent war in the West Bank that has been ruthlessly carried out by the IDF.
The more indefensible the crime committed by the Israeli state, the quieter the ‘free press’ becomes.
Anti-Israel hate?
The supreme irony of this diplomatic disaster is that Sir Keir’s party is deeply wedded to Zionism.
Anyone who seriously challenged Starmer’s pro-Israel line has already been thrown out of the Labour party. Just as anyone who dares to stand up against the government’s complicity is harassed by the Met Police, and smeared and slandered by the reactionary press.
Since taking power, the Labour Party has not blinked in the face of the death and destruction wrought on the Palestinian people.
Even after British nationals were murdered in cold blood by an Israeli targeted attack on an aid convoy last April, Labour has continued its RAF spy missions at the service of the Israeli state.
Starmer’s office has never stuttered in its support for Israel. Two weeks ago, when David Lammy let slip that Israel was breaking international law, Starmer’s office immediately rebuked Lammy’s claim.
They reasserted the official line: that though there is “a clear risk” of a breach of international law, the British government is in no position to judge.
Regardless of what the Labour MPs would have found in the West Bank, it wouldn’t have changed Starmer’s mind. For it is not Starmer, but his master in the White House that decides the foreign policy of Britain.
One would have thought after all the diplomatic cover he provided for Netanyahu, his professed love for Israel, all the Zionist talking points he repeated in his televised addresses, Starmer would have been spared another diplomatic dressing down. But as he is beginning to realise, the course of true love never did run smooth.
