Evidence of the deterioration in diplomatic relations between Ireland and Israel reared its head yet again when Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan was refused entry to the country yesterday.
Ms Boylan said that she was “completely blindsided” after being detained at Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv, along with French MEP Rina Hassan and a number of other European officials.
Ms Boylan currently serves as Chair of the EU Palestine Delegation. She told RTÉ’s Good Morning Ireland programme that her detention by Israeli authorities ultimately culminated in her deportation from the country, despite the fact that the trip was approved a number of months ago.
She said: “The job of the delegation is to go and to have that dialogue… We were due to meet with members of the Knesset and we were due to meet with Israeli politicians as well.
“It’s about strengthening dialogue. It’s about constructive engagement and we were prevented from doing our job yesterday.”
Ms Boylan claimed that the delegation’s passports and electronic devices were seized, and that members were interrogated by Israeli authorities for up to an hour and a half. She also claims that their photographs were taken and circulated widely on Israeli social media.
“I have flagged issues of concern I have around Israel’s handling of personal data and I will be pointing to the fact that they took my phone and my iPad away from me, which… breaches data and privacy,” she said.
“I think there’s real concerns from an EU perspective. It’s unprecedented that civil servants wouldn’t be allowed to continue the mission… And for those civil servants to have their faces put out into the public domain is deeply concerning.”
Thus far Israel has failed to provide an official reason for the EU Palestine Delegation’s deportation back to Brussels. The Israeli Embassy have been contacted by several media sources for comment. They have yet to outline an answer.