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JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel's highest court weighed Wednesday on an appeal by an American student sentenced to deportation under a law against pro-Palestinian foreign militants who are calling for a boycott of Israel.
American student Lara Alqasem appears at the Supreme Court of Israel in Jerusalem on October 17, 2018 REUTERS / Ronen Zvulun
Lara Alqasem, 22, went to Israel on October 2 with a student visa, but security officials denied her entry as president of a small local chapter. of Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Florida.
The Alqasem case sparked a debate in Israel over whether democratic values were compromised by a 2017 law banning the entry of aliens publicly supporting the boycott of Israeli policies towards Palestinians.
Originally Palestinian, Alqasem was arrested at Ben Gurion International Airport, near Tel Aviv, since access to the country was denied him.
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where it was scheduled to begin a one-year master's program on Sunday, also asked the court to reconsider its decision.
At a hearing before Israel's Supreme Court in Jerusalem, Alqasem's lawyers declared that she was no longer active in the boycott movement and had to be admitted, the same argument was presented to a lower court who rejected his call last week.
"Only a person who consistently and consistently calls for boycott is a person who should face a ban," said Yotam Ben-Hillel, one of Alqasem's lawyers, before the three judges. "She is committed to the (lower court) that if she entered Israel, she would not call for a boycott."
The three judges who heard the case said that they would make their decision in writing. Leora Bechor, another lawyer acting for Alqasem, said she was hoping for a quick verdict, perhaps later in the day.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel's position was similar to that of other countries. The Israeli government has said that it views the boycott movements as an attempt to isolate it from its occupation of the territory that the Palestinians seek, but also as a campaign for its destruction.
Alqasem's lawyers said she had stopped working for Students for Justice a few months before the anti-boycott law came into force.
Bechor said that Alqasem could have chosen to return to the United States, but had chosen to remain in detention at the airport to plead his case.
Written by Jeffrey Heller; Edited by Andrew Heavens
