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Israel bars European lawmakers for planned meeting with jailed Palestinian murderer

Interior Minister Deri announced the barring of 20 European lawmakers from entering the Jewish state due to their BDS activity and planned meeting with imprisoned Palestinian terrorist Marwan Barghouti.

By: World Israel News Staff

Following up on government directives to deny anti-Israel activists entry to the country, Interior Minister Aryeh Deri said he will adopt the recommendation of Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan to bar 20 European lawmakers from visiting Israel and the Palestinian Authority next week.

The delegation has 20 participants, including French parliamentarians and mayors, and members of the European Parliament.  On the itinerary is a prison visit with terror chief Marwan Barghouti who is serving five life sentences for orchestrating three terror attacks that killed five people.

The BDS Movement attempts to delegitimize and isolate Israel in an effort to advance Palestinian interests. Many leaders of the campaign have publicly affirmed that they seek Israel’s destruction.

In August 2016, Israel established an inter-ministerial team tasked with tracking down and deporting anti-Israel activists who come to the Jewish State for the purpose of harming the country. The team also works to prevent the future entry of activists who operate for the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement.

Israel acted on its new directives for the first time at the end of the year, denying entry to BDS activist Isabel Phiri, Associate General Secretary for the World Council of Churches (WCC) because of her work with the group to malign Israel and damage it through an economic boycott.  Upon making that decision, Deri said that the authority given to him as a minister was intended specifically for dealing with visitors who arrive in Israel under a false pretense with the intention to encourage anti-Israel activity.

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Israel “will continue to work to prevent the entry of BDS activists into the country,” Erdan stated at the time. “Their sole purpose is to harm the State of Israel by gathering information and presenting it in a distorted and false manner in order to harm Israel in the world. These activists belong outside the borders of the country, and we will continue to work in every possible fashion to prevent them from entering our country.”