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JERUSALEM – As a student at the University of Florida, Lara Alqasem recently served as president of the tiny local chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.
The group usually had a one-digit member and one of its most notable political activities seems to have been a campaign to boycott an Israeli brand of hummus. An article posted on Facebook indicated that 19 people showed up at the launch of the campaign.
But this seems to have sufficed for the Israeli government to ban Ms. Alqasem from entering the country under a 2017 law aimed at fighting the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, a loose network of which the objectives include putting pressure on Israel to put an end to the occupation of the West. Bank. Israeli officials consider the B.D.S. an anti-Semitic movement determined to destroy Israel, as it also promotes the right of return of millions of Palestinian refugees in their former homes.
Ms. Alqasem arrived at Ben Gurion Airport last week with the intention of enrolling in an Israeli university. She has been detained there since she is appealing an eviction order. On Tuesday, the Israeli government offered him a choice: to apologize and give up his support for the boycott movement, or give up his plans to study in Israel and be placed on a plane to return to the States. -United.
"If Lara Alqasem clearly and explicitly declares that she made mistakes in the past," Gilad Erdan, Israel's Minister of Public Security and Strategic Affairs, said: wrote on Twitter, "we will reconsider our position regarding his entry into Israel".
Leora Bechor, one of the Israeli lawyers representing Ms. Alqasem, described the case as "flagrant".
"It's a 22-year-old man who absolutely can not support a university boycott," Ms. Bechor said. "She wants to study here."
In the midst of a heated internal debate about the character of Israeli democracy and who should be allowed to enter the country, Ms. Alqasem's case is testing the system. Its supporters accuse the government of a zealous policy at the border, based on fragile evidence and likely to cause more harm to Israel and its image abroad than the boycott of any student.
Ms. Alqasem's qualifications as an anti-Israeli activist are far from clear.
At the University of Florida, she studied Hebrew and was spotted at a conference about a Holocaust survivor, according to her Hebrew teacher, who wrote to Haaretz to attest to Ms. Alqasem's character after have read an article about his ban.
After graduating, Ms. Alqasem, who has Palestinian grandparents, decided to study for a Master of Laws degree in Human Rights at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She landed on the night of October 2 with a one – year student visa issued by the Israeli Consulate in Miami.
In an extraordinary move, the Hebrew University asked to join Alqasem's appeal against his deportation.
"To be clear, we strongly oppose the boycott campaign against Israel, and Israel must fight it," Barak Medina, rector of the Hebrew University, said on Tuesday. "But refusing entry to anyone who has expressed support for a boycott is counterproductive."
Professor Medina stated that he had not yet been able to meet Ms. Alqasem, but that he would like to do it.
Dror Abend-David, formerly Alqasem's Hebrew teacher, described her as "a charming young lady, a remarkable, curious, open-minded student, eager to study relationships. in Israel to develop his opinion on the subject. the dispute."
Mr. Erdan, Minister of Public Security, stated that Ms. Alqasem was not detained against her will and that she was free to leave the country at any time.
Critics are increasingly asking what are the exact criteria for banning people from leaving the country. In the past, Israeli officials have stated that the 2017 Membership Act would not penalize people solely for their political views and would only apply to the personalities of the boycott movement.
While the law has so far been used sparingly – only about 15 people have been denied entry so far, officials say – Israel has been subjected to unwelcome scrutiny for hold and interview leading critics at their entry points.
After her arrival and her forbidden entry, Ms. Alqasem appealed to a court of the Tel Aviv District Court. At the request of a judge, she formally declared that she would not participate in any boycott activity during her stay in Israel and that she had no intention of going to the territories. Palestinians, according to the attorneys representing her.
The appeal was dismissed, but an extension of time was granted to Ms. Alqasem so that she could pursue her case. Another hearing is scheduled for the next few days.
Ms. Bechor stated that there was no evidence directly linking Ms. Alqasem to an anti-Israeli activity.
The government's file on Ms. Alqasem, she said, did not include any independent research and was based primarily on her profile on the website of an organization called Canary Mission, which states that "people and groups that promote hatred of the United States, Israel, and Jews on North American university campuses. The profile describes the activities of the Florida Chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, but not those of Ms. Alqasem herself.
Bechor said the government is now engaged in a "frantic effort to backtrack".
Ben Moore, adviser to Mr. Erdan, acknowledged that the information provided by the ministry about Ms. Alqasem came from public sources online, including from the Canary Islands Mission. He said Ms. Alqasem had cut off her social media accounts before coming to Israel, which, he said, "seemed at best dubious".
Towards the end of Tuesday, it seemed that both parties were trying to find a compromise, in the wording of a statement, that would allow Ms. Alqasem to stay.
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