Members of a delegation travelling from east London to Palestine have reported being held for eight hours in Israel before being issued with visas to “intimidate and deter” them.
The group, which includes deputy mayor of Tower Hamlets Cllr Ohid Ahmed, is visiting the city of Jenin in northern Palestine to build on links established by the Tower Hamlets and Jenin Friendship Association during a visit last year.
But Tower Hamlets Cllr Rania Khan, who is among those taking part in the trip, complained of delays in visas being granted on social networking site Twitter.
She tweeted on Friday: “After holding us for 10hrs @telaviv we were finally given our visa issued 8 hrs before. This was done to intimidate and deter us #Palestine.”
Later on she added: “So far this journey has made me realise how important it is to raise the plight of #palestine.”
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