6:40pm Wednesday 8th September 2010
By Sam Chadderton
A BLACKBURN man has been banned from visiting his sick elderly mother in Tel Aviv following a 12-hour immigration nightmare at the hands of Israeli Security Forces.
Mahmoud Abu El Hawa, 52, from Denville Road, Blackburn, his wife Muna and daughter flew from Manchester on Thursday, September 2, and arrived at Tel Aviv airport at 5pm.
The trip came as high level talks took place to end the Israel-Palestine conflict.
But on arrival, the group was stopped by security, asked to produce passports and explain about their family history.
They were allowed through to passport control where they were again asked about their heritage.
Then, according to Mr Abu El Hawa, he had his three-month visiting visa taken away and his wife, daughter and another friend were put in an immigration hall to await questioning.
After seven hours of waiting and questioning, Mr Abu El Hawa claims he was accused of ‘collecting money for terrorists’ by a ‘very aggressive’ member of the Israeli Security Forces.
When his daughter protested, she was told to ‘sit down and not speak’.
He then let officers go through his mobile and emails, but was told he would be going back to England after having his visa ripped up for ‘security reasons’.
The rest of the group were allowed to continue their visit, but Mr Abu El Hawa was taken to a detention centre overnight and ‘treated like a criminal’.
His family paid £550 for a flight back to London. The salesman for A-Z Catering, Shadsworth Road, said: “I have been a British citizen for almost 30 years and throughout this time I have visited Israel at least twice a year. My mother is very ill and I want to spend as much time with her as possible.
“I have never experienced any problems like this at Israeli border control and I can think of no reason why I have been refused entry on this occasion."
A spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in London said: “Any sovereign country has the right to decide who might not get into their country. "
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