Organizers of West Bank delegation blocked by Israel call for steeper sanctions

Executive director of The Canadian-Muslim Vote Umair Ashraf speaks during a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

Members of a Canadian delegation that was denied entry to the West Bank earlier this month are calling on Ottawa to tighten sanctions targeting new Israeli settlements in occupied territory.

A group that included six Canadian MPs on a mission to meet with displaced Palestinians was turned away at the Allenby border crossing into the West Bank on Dec. 16. Multiple members of the group told The Canadian Press that Ontario MP Iqra Khalid was shoved by an Israeli border guard during the confrontation.

Delegation representatives, including members of The Canadian-Muslim Vote, Justice for All Canada, the National Council of Canadian Muslims and the Canadian Muslim Healthcare Network, held a press conference on Parliament Hill on Monday.

The groups pushed for accountability and further explanations for their denial at the border, and urged Ottawa to tighten sanctions on Israel’s expansionist actions in the West Bank.

They called on Ottawa to ban imports of any goods produced in the occupied West Bank and prohibit Canadians from buying property in those settlement areas. They also pushed Ottawa to sanction key Israeli officials — members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet, for example — and to investigate any Canadians advancing settlement activity in the occupied territory.

Those requests are in response to the Israeli security cabinet’s decision earlier this month to approve 19 new settlements in portions of the West Bank under military occupation.

Ahmed Ramadan, government relations officer at Justice for All Canada, on Monday compared Israel’s settlement expansion in the West Bank to U.S. President Donald Trump’s calls earlier in the year to make Canada the “51st state.”

“Now imagine that threat was not rhetoric. Imagine that a powerful neighbour was building cities on our land, carving up our provinces and restricting our ability to travel. Yet for Palestinians, this is not rhetoric. This is the reality they face,” Ramadan said.

Canada joined 13 allies, including the United Kingdom, Germany and France, in issuing a Dec. 24 statement to condemn the new West Bank settlements and urge Israel to reverse course. The countries said in the statement the expansion violates international law and could fuel instability in the region.

Canada has levied four previous rounds of sanctions against 17 individuals and seven entities for their roles in advancing new settlements and extremist settler violence against Palestinians.

The Canadian Press reached out to Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand’s office for comment on the delegation’s requests and whether Canada is considering any additional actions in response to the new settlements.

Afnan Kaid, community advocate with the Canadian Muslim Healthcare Network, said blocking doctors in the delegation from seeing conditions on the ground in the West Bank “constitutes a serious violation of democratic norms.”

Ahmad Al Qadi, government affairs and public policy officer with the National Council of Canadian Muslims, said the delegation is having ongoing conversations with Anand’s office about what happened on Dec. 16 but has yet to meet formally with the minister.

He said the delegation was pleased to see Anand summon Israel’s ambassador to Canada quickly after the incident, but explanations for the denial have so far fallen short.

“The answers thus far from the Israeli embassy or Israeli government have been categorically insufficient, inconsistent, and frankly false. So we’re expecting a clear cut and fact-based answer,” Al Qadi said.

Liberal MP Khalid told The Canadian Press the shoving incident happened when she tried to stand near a member of the delegation who was being surrounded by border officers during questioning.

The delegation was sponsored by The Canadian-Muslim Vote, a group that encourages civic participation among Muslims in Canada. Delegates had planned to meet with displaced Palestinians in the West Bank, where the Israeli government recently approved the construction of 764 new homes in Jewish settlements.

Israel’s embassy in Canada says the group was denied entry because The Canadian-Muslim Vote receives funding from a subsidiary of Islamic Relief Worldwide, which the Israeli government listed as a terrorist entity in 2014.

“The State of Israel will not allow the entry of organizations and individuals who are associated with designated terror entities,” the statement read.

Umair Ashraf, executive director of The Canadian-Muslim Vote, said Monday that Islamic Relief Worldwide and its Canadian subsidiary are not terrorist entities. Islamic Relief Canada describes itself on its website as a charity recognized by both the Canadian government and the United Nations that provides emergency aid after disasters.

“The Israeli government is spreading a lie and trying to, as they have done with other UN organizations … derail them from their goal,” Ashraf said.

The Canadian Press reached out to the Israeli embassy in Canada Monday for an updated statement but has yet to receive a response.

Israeli Ambassador to Canada Iddo Moed acknowledged the need to “get to the bottom of this specific incident” in an interview with The Canadian Press earlier this month.

Ashraf was asked Monday whether the delegation would attempt to enter the West Bank again.

“At this point, we would like to go back, but we aren’t sure as to what is next,” he said.

By Craig Lord

— with files from David Baxter