Scottish official says he was strip-searched, barred from Israel

An official from Scotland’s governing Scottish National Party was refused entry and strip-searched on arrival in Israel this week, he told AFP on Friday. An Israeli official said the politician lied about his reason for entering the country.

Andrew Murray, chair of the Friends of Palestine group in the Scottish National Party (SNP), was detained for more than 24 hours and put in a cell after arriving on Monday, he said.

He was part of an advance party for a delegation of Scottish MPs due to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories.

“They strip-searched me, scanned me, swabbed me everywhere,” Murray said. “Twice I asked for representation from the British embassy, twice I was told no.”

Murray was deported more than 24 hours later after a night in a cell, he added, confirming that he had been banned from entering Israel for 10 years.

Carol Monaghan, SNP MP for Glasgow North West, said she “absolutely condemned” the treatment.

“Andy was there on a peaceful, fact-finding trip,” she said. “It is really concerning that any UK citizen can go to a country with which we have good relations and face such treatment.”

She intended to make a formal complaint to the Israeli ambassador to Britain, Monaghan added.

The left-wing SNP rules the devolved government of Scotland and won a huge victory in Britain’s May general election, taking every Scottish seat bar one to become the third largest party in the British parliament.

Sabine Haddad, a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, said Murray lied about his reason for traveling to Israel by saying he was a tourist.

“When the border control checked, we found out that he came to a conference… so it means that he lied to border control,” she said.

“That is the reason he was denied, not because he came to the country.”

Murray said he did not lie in response to any of the questions asked.