A London bus outside the Houses of Parliament. Photo: public domain.

Border security and a visa policy. There isn’t a single sovereign state in the world that doesn’t have both.

The United Kingdom certainly does — a robust one, no less. For Palestinians, a visa is mandatory to enter the UK, whether for tourism, family visits, business, or study — short stay or long.

In addition to a visa, Palestinians must present a valid passport, proof of accommodation (hotel booking or invitation from a local host), evidence of financial means (bank statements, employer letter, etc.), and a return or onward travel ticket. Processing is time-consuming, often expensive, and far from guaranteed.

The irony of this, however, has been lost on British Labour MPs Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang, who apparently believed their parliamentary status placed them above the entry requirements enforced on ordinary visitors when they arrived in Israel earlier this month.

Upon landing at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport and telling border authorities they were on a “parliamentary delegation to visit humanitarian aid projects in the West Bank,” they were found to have misrepresented the nature of their visit, denied entry, and promptly deported — just like anyone else who flouts standard entry procedures.

The two MPs were, in fact, on a trip arranged by Caabu — the Council for Arab-British Understanding — a lobby group that specializes in escorting British parliamentarians on carefully choreographed “fact-finding” tours of the West Bank.

According to NGO Monitor, Caabu’s stated aim is to “counter the Israel lobby” in British politics — a mission it advances by promoting inflammatory, evidence-free accusations of “ethnic cleansing” and “apartheid,” under the guise of educational outreach.

In the aftermath of Hamas’ October 7 massacre, Caabu’s director, Chris Doyle, stopped just short of defending the atrocities outright, instead casting them as the inevitable “reaction” to decades of Israeli policy. “Hell in Gaza,” he warned, “will never equal heaven in Israel.” A grimly revealing insight into Caabu’s wider agenda.

For Mohamed, though, this wasn’t a matter of border policy, as she told the House of Commons, but an act of “control and censorship” — part of a broader effort, she claimed, to suppress those trying to “expose” Israel.

She went further still, casting her routine deportation as political repression and invoking the familiar antisemitic dog whistle: “No state, however powerful, should be beyond criticism.”

One must assume, then, that Mohamed also views the UK’s visa system — which requires Palestinians to navigate layers of bureaucracy and reserves the right to deny them entry — as an example of a state’s unrestrained power.

Mohamed and Yang landed in Israel at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 5, on a flight from Luton, accompanied by two aides. During questioning, the two MPs — both vocal supporters of BDS — claimed they were part of an official parliamentary delegation. That claim was reportedly untrue: no Israeli authority had received notification of such a delegation, nor had any approval been granted, according to Israel’s Interior Ministry.

Interior Minister Moshe Arbel denied entry to all four individuals “in accordance with the law,” noting their intent to cause harm to the state.

The Israeli embassy in London issued a statement explaining: “These individuals had accused Israel of false claims, were actively involved in promoting sanctions against Israeli ministers, and supported campaigns aimed at boycotting the State of Israel.”

The UK’s own Foreign Office, it’s worth noting, explicitly states that foreign nationals can legally be denied entry to Israel if they’ve publicly called for a boycott or belong to an organization that has. It’s right there on the government’s website — advice Mohamed and Yang might have reviewed before confirming their airline tickets.

But their apparent disbelief that Israel would actually enforce its own laws has been matched, headline for headline, by the British media’s hyperventilation over the supposed diplomatic scandal.

Sky News has breathlessly tracked every twist of the saga, with headlines about the “furious row” over the Labour MPs’ denied entry and helpful explainers outlining “what the MPs said about the war in Gaza” — just in case anyone was still wondering why they might not be welcomed with open arms.

The Guardian is doing its best to amplify the manufactured indignation, leading its coverage with Foreign Secretary David Lammy’s condemnation of Israel’s decision as “unacceptable, counterproductive, and deeply concerning.”

Curiously, it failed to mention Lammy’s own support, back in 2008, for banning Israeli MPs from entering the UK — a rather pertinent omission, as noted by journalist Stephen Pollard in The Spectator.

Labour MP Emily Thornberry weighed in with her characteristic self-importance, declaring that the deportation was particularly egregious because Mohamed and Yang were, in her words, “potential leaders” of the UK.

“They are highly respected parliamentarians,” she told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, “and Israel is badly advised to try to alienate them, to humiliate them, and to treat them in this way, because people listen to what these two young women say — and they will do for decades to come.”

This would be the same Emily Thornberry, chair of the UK Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, who once told Sky News that, if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the UK, she’d have no problem arresting him. Apparently, arresting a current leader is fine — but deporting two “potential” ones is beyond the pale.

So while the BBC blares about how “astounded” these MPs are, and The Independent frets about the “escalat[ing] diplomatic row,” let’s take a moment to remind the media — and our stunned British lawmakers — of a basic principle:

It’s called the law, and it applies to everyone. And as the Brits themselves might put it, this is nothing more than a storm in a teacup.

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.

The post The UK Media Attacked Israel for Refusing Entry to BDS-Backing Politicians; But Israel Was Right first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters in New York, US, Sept. 26, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Just as it did last month, the Palestinian Authority (PA) announced last week that it is paying February’s monthly “allowances” to Palestinian prisoners, terrorists, and their families.

One announcement was made laconically by the Postal Service, while the “PA employees’ salaries” Telegram channel mentioned in two separate statements that these payments were particularly for “Martyrs, prisoners, and the wounded,” as can be seen in the chart below:

While the Palestine Post announcement again did not specify to whom the payments were going to, the employees’ channel said explicitly (twice) that they were meant for terrorists.

Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) has no doubt that these are terror salaries, since the PA postal service only began facilitating them after the PA banks closed 35,000 terrorist bank accounts. The reason the bank accounts were closed was because PMW warned the banks that if they  continued facilitating those accounts, they would be violating Israeli law and therefore subject to civil and criminal liability.

It is noteworthy that the payments being made are for February 2025 — a month’s delay. PMW has reported that the PA had skipped the payment of a full month’s salary to its employees in 2023 and has not made it up. This is due to the PA being mired in financial crisis because of its high expenditures on payments to terrorists and the resulting losses in international support. Since then, all salaries are for two months prior rather than for the previous month, as would be standard.

PMW has been closely monitoring these payments and will continue doing so, as nothing has changed despite Mahmoud Abbas’ presidential decree, where he lied to Western audiences and said he would end “pay-for-slay.” He indeed seems to be making good on his previous promise to Palestinians that even if the PA would be “left with one penny, it will be paid to the families of the Martyrs and the prisoners.”

Ephraim D. Tepler is a contributor to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), where a version of this article first appeared. 

The post Despite False Promises, Palestinian Authority Proudly Continues ‘Pay-for-Slay’ Program first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

President Donald Trump said on Monday he believes Iran is intentionally delaying a nuclear deal with the United States and that it must abandon any drive for a nuclear weapon or face a possible military strike on Tehran’s atomic facilities.

“I think they’re tapping us along,” Trump told reporters after US special envoy Steve Witkoff met in Oman on Saturday with a senior Iranian official.

Both Iran and the United States said on Saturday that they held “positive” and “constructive” talks in Oman. A second round is scheduled for Saturday, and a source briefed on the planning said the meeting was likely to be held in Rome.

The source, speaking to Reuters on the condition of anonymity, said the discussions are aimed at exploring what is possible, including a broad framework of what a potential deal would look like.

“Iran has to get rid of the concept of a nuclear weapon. They cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.

Asked if US options for a response include a military strike on Tehran’s nuclear facilities, Trump said: “Of course it does.”

Trump said the Iranians need to move fast to avoid a harsh response because “they’re fairly close” to developing a nuclear weapon.

The US and Iran held indirect talks during former President Joe Biden’s term but they made little, if any progress. The last known direct negotiations between the two governments were under then-President Barack Obama, who spearheaded the 2015 international nuclear deal that Trump later abandoned.

The post Trump Says Iran Must Give Up Dream of Nuclear Weapon or Face Harsh Response first appeared on Algemeiner.com.