By Madison Ruppert | End the Lie

According to multiple reports, both Israel and Jordan have denied entry to a group of pro-Palestinian activists from the United States and Europe who were attempting to deliver aid to students in the West Bank.

This action coming from Israel, while hardly surprising, is quite troubling. Keep in mind that Israel has repeatedly stated that the only acceptable method of bringing humanitarian aid into the Occupied Palestinian Territories is by land, thus supposedly justifying their blockade on Gaza. All attempts to break this blockade have been thwarted, which just acts to increase anti-Israeli sentiment in the region and around the world.

The spokeswoman for the group leading the mission, “Welcome to Palestine,” stated that one of the buses transporting activists was allowed to pass by Jordanian authorities before being stopped by the Israelis.

“The [Israeli] authorities took all their passports and stamped ‘entry denied’ on all of them and told them to return,” the spokeswoman, Olivia Zemor, said to Agence France-Presse.

“The second bus was prevented [from crossing] by the Jordanians at the request of the Israeli authorities. They obeyed the orders of the Israelis,” Zemor said.

“One police officer told us that ‘we got orders from Israel. We cannot let you leave’. We demanded explanation and nobody gave us any explanation. Then some of us demonstrated,” she added.

According to an Israeli official with the defense ministry in Jerusalem, the Israeli authorities did indeed deny the activists entry to the West Bank via the Allenby Bridge crossing.

However, the official did not refer to them as activists delivering aid to students, as AFP did, instead characterizing them as “provocateurs, rioters and known troublemakers,” which is hardly surprising.