Jordanian lawmaker denied entry into occupied West Bank

AMMAN — Israel on Wednesday banned MP Yihya Saud from entering the occupied West Bank, where he was scheduled to attend a reconciliation gathering between two tribes, a Jordanian and a Palestinian, the lawmaker told The Jordan Times. 

Saud, who chairs the Lower House Palestine Committee, said he was supposed to be in the city of Ramallah as he was invited by the Samhan tribe there to attend the reconciliation gathering with a delegation from the Karak Majali tribe to complete reconciliation procedures over the shooting death of Mohammad Samhan.

Mohammad was shot to death in Amman's Tlaa Al Ali area last November by a member of the Majali tribe, who suspected the victim to be a thief as he was wandering at dawn in the area. 

Relatives of the victim told The Jordan Times previously that the victim was a journalist-based in Ramallah and that he was in Amman to renew his Jordanian passport. He was in his early 30s. 

The relatives said the man was lost in the area as he could not find the building in which he rented an apartment. 

Saud said Israelis refused to allow him into the West Bank because of his pro-Palestinian stances, adding that the Foreign Ministry — through the Jordanian embassy in Tel Aviv — tried to convince Israelis to allow him entry but to no avail. 

"Jordan and Israel have a signed peace treaty and as an MP I should be allowed to enter the West Bank anytime without hurdles," he said, asking sarcastically "what kind of peace treaties does the government here keep talking about?"

The lawmaker noted that Israel has also denied entry to some members of the Jordanian delegation, which consisted of tribal leaders from across Jordan.

"Some were allowed to cross into the West Bank and some others were banned," he said.