Barcelona mayor calls Israeli decision to bar his entry a ‘hostile act’ meant to isolate Palestinians

After he was denied entry to Israel, Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni accuses the government of seeking to “isolate the Palestinian people and hide from the world the constant violations of human rights they endure.”

Collboni, whose city has cut off ties with Israel, says in a Catalan-language Instagram post that he was invited by his Palestinian counterparts in Ramallah and Bethlehem “to learn firsthand about the realities of Palestinian cities.”

He says the trip was set to include a meeting in Jerusalem with left-wing Israeli groups B’Tselem and Peace Now; a laying of wreaths at the graves of the late Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian Authority president Yasser Arafat; and a visit to a new camp in Amman run by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees that Israel has accused of cooperating with terror groups.

Collboni makes no mention of a planned visit to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, where Hebrew media said he was set to go.

He calls the decision to deny entry to his delegation a “hostile act” and says it “only strengthens our resolve… for peace, justice and the recognition of the Palestinian people’s rights. Their voice is also ours.”