[ad_1]
JERUSALEM – In a revolutionary case, Israel arrested an American student at her international airport last week, accusing her of supporting a Palestinian-led boycott campaign against the Jewish state.
The case highlights Israel's concerns about the boycott movement and the considerable efforts it has made to stop it. The grassroots campaign has made significant progress in recent years, particularly among university students and millennials.
Lara Alqasem, a 22-year-old American citizen accompanied by Palestinian grandparents, landed at Ben Gurion airport last Tuesday with a valid student visa. But she was prevented from entering the country and ordered her deportation, on the basis of suspicion she supports the boycott.
An Israeli court ordered that she remain in detention while she appeals. The one week detention is the longest in a boycott – related case, and it was not clear right away Tuesday that a final decision would be made.
In the meantime, she spends her days in a closed area with limited access to the phone, the internet, and a bed with bedbugs, according to people who have spoken to her.
Alqasem, of the suburbs of Fort Lauderdale in the Southwest Ranches, Florida, is a former president of the Florida University section of Students for Justice in Palestine. The group is a branch of the BDS movement, whose name comes from its calls for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel.
BDS proponents said that by urging companies, artists and universities to break ties with Israel, they used non-violent means to resist unfair policies against Palestinians. Israel says the movement is hiding its motives for delegitimizing or destroying the Jewish state.
"Lara has been the president of a chapter of one of the world's most extremist and hateful anti-Israeli BDS groups," said Minister of Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan, who is spearheading the government's efforts Israeli against the boycott movement. "Israel will not allow entry to those who work to harm the country, whatever their excuse."
The ministry said that during Alqasem's participation in Students for Justice in Palestine, the club advocated a boycott against Sabra Hummus, a brand of Israeli chickpea dip.
On Tuesday, Erdan proposed a compromise, stating in an interview on the radio that he would rethink his decision to deport her if she apologized and give up her support for the BDS.
"If Lara Alqasem goes tomorrow in her own voice, and not through all kinds of lawyers or statements that can be misinterpreted, say that support for BDS is not legitimate and that she regrets what she did, we will certainly reconsider our position, "he said.
Last year, Israel passed a law prohibiting any foreigner who "knowingly, publicly, calls for a boycott of Israel" to enter the country. He has also identified 20 groups of activists from around the world whose members may be denied entry upon their arrival. Until now, he has blocked the entry of 15 people, according to the Ministry of Erdan.
The ministry uses a variety of sources to identify BDS activists, including informant councils and social media publications. The ministry says its suspicions were deepened after learning that Alqasem had recently removed all of its social media accounts.
In her appeal, Alqasem asserted that she had never actively participated in boycott campaigns and had promised the court not to promote them in the future.
"We are talking about someone who just wants to study in Israel, who is not boycotting anything," said his lawyer, Yotam Ben-Hillel. "She's not even part of the student organization anymore."
Alqasem is enrolled to study human rights at Israel's Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The university left behind her support by announcing Monday that she would join Alqasem's call.
She also received a boost from her former Hebrew professor at the University of Florida, who described her as an exceptional and curious student. In a letter to the Israeli Haaretz newspaper, Dror Abend-David stated that she had "an open and positive attitude towards Judaism, Jews and the state of Israel" .
In an interview in Florida, her mother, Karen Alqasem, affirmed the tolerance and intellectual dynamism of her daughter.
"Studying and getting to know the country was Lara's dream for as long as I can remember," she told The Associated Press. "She may have criticized some of Israel's policies in the past, but she respects Israeli society and culture. For her, it's not a contradiction. "
Karen Alqasem said that her daughter had graduated in Arabic and International Studies at the University of Florida in May and had studied Hebrew in the hope of becoming a lawyer.
She added that the Israeli government exaggerated her daughter's involvement in the group of university students, claiming that she only belonged to it for a semester. She added that her daughter had never threatened Israel and was not religious.
"She is treated like a criminal but she is not a criminal," she said.
Her lawyer and a group of opposition lawmakers went to Alqasem and claimed that she was in safe, but mediocre, conditions.
In a conversation with her daughter last Friday, Alqasem said that Lara had complained of a bedbug infestation in her cell. With her phone confiscated and her communication mostly restricted to calls with her lawyer, Lara felt "completely cut off from the world," she said.
The US Embassy said that she had gone to Alqasem in detention to make sure she had food and water. Heather Nauert, State Department spokeswoman, told Washington that the government was aware of the case, but that "finally, it is up to the Israeli government to decide who it wants to let in." country".
Mossi Raz, an opposition parliamentarian who visited her, said that she told him that without books or entertainment, she spent her time talking with other women detained in the house. same cell for various visa issues.
In addition to the anti-BDS campaign, Israel has arrested or questioned a number of Jewish vocal critics, both Israeli and foreign, about their political views when they entered the country in recent months. These tactics, coupled with legislation limiting the influence of anti-occupation groups, have raised concerns that the nationalist government is attempting to stifle dissent.
The Ministry of Strategic Affairs said that it only dealt with BDS cases. The Shin Bet, which oversees security procedures at border crossings, says that it stops people solely for security issues, not their political views.
___
Susannah George in Washington and Terry Spence in Fort Lauderdale, Florida contributed to the report.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, disseminated, rewritten or redistributed.
[ad_2]Source link
