Israel denies entry to EU politician who backs boycott, sanctions, armed struggle
Israel announces move against French-Palestinian Rima Hassan just before arrival; EU says delegation chair Lynn Boylan also barred, calling off entire trip to Jerusalem, Ramallah
Interior Minister Moshe Arbel barred European Parliament member Rima Hassan from entering the country on Monday, citing her past comments encouraging boycotts and sanctions of Israel, and armed struggle against it.
The European Union’s mission to the Palestinians said Israel also barred Lynn Boylan, head of the five-person EU delegation, without providing a reason; the refusals led the group to call off the trip, with Boylan calling Israel a “rogue state” and demanding Europe “hold it to account.”
Arbel gave the order to ban Hassan as she was en route to Israel from Brussels to meet with Palestinian Authority officials. He said the Diaspora Affairs Ministry had recommended the move, which came as Israel’s top diplomat was holding meetings with European Union leaders in Brussels.
In a statement shortly before Hassan landed at Ben Gurion Airport, Arbel claimed that she had “consistently worked to promote boycotts against Israel and made numerous public statements and social media posts” hostile to the country.
“Hassan will be returned to Brussels,” he said.
She later boarded a flight back to Belgium with Boylan.
The EU’s Jerusalem-based mission to the Palestinians told the Times of Israel that Boylan, who chairs the European Parliament EU-Palestine delegation, was also denied entry along with two other EU staffers accompanying the lawmakers. Israeli authorities did not provide any reasons to any of the officials who were denied entry, it said.
Announcing the cancelation of the trip to Jerusalem and Ramallah, the mission noted that the remaining three MPs, who were allowed entry, would nonetheless return to Europe on a Tuesday morning flight.
The incident occurred as Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar was in Brussels for meetings with EU leaders and the 27 foreign ministers from EU states.
Boylan said she had planned to meet with Palestinian Authority officials, representatives of civil society organizations and people living under Israeli occupation. Boylan is a member of the Sinn Fein party in Ireland, which has been among the most vocal countries in criticizing the Israeli government over its treatment of Palestinians.
“This utter contempt from Israel is the result of the international community failing to hold them to account,” Boylan said in a statement. “Israel is a rogue state, and this disgraceful move shows the level of utter disregard that they have for international law. Europe must now hold Israel to account.”
Hassan has voiced support for armed struggle against Israel on social media, and has been summoned by French police for comments allegedly lauding terrorism.
The summons came at the heels of a complaint filed against her by the European Jewish Organization, a group of French Jewish lawyers dedicated to combatting antisemitism and anti-Israel boycott campaigns.
???????? résolution 3070 (XXVIII) de l’assemblée générale des nations unies : réaffirme la légitimité de la lutte des peuples pour se libérer de la domination coloniale et étrangère et de l’emprise étrangère par tous les moyens en leur pouvoir y compris la lutte armée. pic.twitter.com/WkaGYxPsHm
— Rima Hassan (@RimaHas) February 23, 2025
Elected to the European Parliament in 2024, Hassan was born to Palestinian parents in Syria’s Neirab refugee camp. She immigrated to France at the age of 9 and obtained French citizenship as an adult.
The 32-year-old was trained as an attorney before entering parliamentary politics as part of Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s far-left France Unbowed party. She wrote her master’s thesis in international law on the question of apartheid, drawing legal comparisons between South Africa and Israel.
Hassan has repeatedly accused Israel of genocide for its Gaza offensive following the Hamas terror group’s October 7, 2023, onslaught in Israel. In 2024, she called for a boycott of French TV channel TF1, after it broadcast an interview with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and she participated in a protest outside the channel’s headquarters.
Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli welcomed the Interior Ministry’s move, saying that Israel was “not obligated to grant entry to any foreign official, including members of parliament, if they work to delegitimize or boycott the country.”
“Israel will not grant legitimacy to those who seek its harm. We will continue to act against antisemitic and anti-Israel elements trying to exploit our democracy,” he wrote on X.
The Times of Israel Community.