The group, including Liberal and NDP MPs, was not barred from entering due to their opposition to Israel, and purposely chose to use the most fraught entry point

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Pro-Palestinian advocates are claiming that Israel is suppressing independent reporting in the West Bank after a delegation of Canadians, including six MPs, was denied entry into the conflict-prone region. This is nonsense, as the Palestinian territory is easily accessible. I know because I travelled there last Friday.

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The sponsored 30-person delegation was organized by the Canadian-Muslim Vote (TCMV), a registered charity that says it’s dedicated to empowering Canadian Muslims through civic engagement. After visiting Jordan, the group had planned on crossing the border into the West Bank for meetings with civil society groups, refugees and officials from the Canadian government and Palestinian Authority (PA). 

The meeting locations included Hebron and Jenin, two Palestinian cities known for being hotbeds of violent extremism. Jenin, in particular, has faced significant unrest in recent years thanks to the rise of the Jenin Brigades, a jihadist terror group that both Israel and the PA have struggled to suppress. 

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Upon arriving at the Allenby Crossing, the only legal pathway between Jordan and the West Bank, the delegation was denied entry by Israeli border officials primarily due to “public security or public safety or public order considerations.” The delegates —