The Tel Aviv District Court on Friday said Israel’s decision to ban BDS supporter Lara Alqasem from taking part in a Hebrew University study program was legal, and that “any self-respecting state defends its own interests and those of its citizens, and has the right to fight against the actions of a boycott … as well as any attacks on its image.”
Alqasem, former president of the University of Florida chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, was found to have taken part in support for the “boycott of Israeli society” and for enemies of Israel.
The 22-year-old American, the granddaughter of Arabs who had lived in Israel, landed at Israel’s Ben-Gurion International Airport on Oct. 2 on a student visa, having registered for a one-year program on human rights at Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
But she was not allowed to enter the country, after entry officials found she was an activist in the movement to boycott Israel. She rejected deportation, opting to stay at an immigration facility while she fought the entry ban. She remains free to go back to the United States.
Hebrew University, which had supported her appeal, condemned Friday’s decision.
On Thursday, Alqasem appeared in court to oppose the ban, but the judge found the entry ban to be in accordance with a law passed last year banning foreigners who “knowingly issue a public call for boycotting Israel.”
The university criticized the court’s decision, saying her registration in the program itself negated the concept of boycott.
Alqasem’s lawyers sent a letter to Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, promising she would not participate in boycott activities while studying in the country, but Erdan rejected the plea, saying her letter actually verified that she supports the boycott and isolation of Israel.
“I want those boycott activists to understand that their actions come with a price,” said Erdan. “I am not putting them in jail, not doing anything physically to them, but they will not enter Israel, gather information and misrepresent it around the world.”
“The ruling stated explicitly that the decision was based on Alqasem’s activities and actions against the State of Israel and not due to her opinions or thoughts,” Erdan added, noting that the judge said the ruling would not affect every student who supports a boycott of Israel “because not every student serves as the president of a branch of a prominent boycott organization and tries to hide such by erasing their social-media accounts.”
He rejected the idea that the decision would harm Israel’s image, stating “every day, thousands of people are stopped at the entrance to the United States and Britain, and nobody in the hypocritical international media writes articles about it or questions [authorities] on why they decided it will maybe harm national security.”
The United States said last week that while it is in touch with Alqasem and supports freedom of expression, it supports Israel’s right to decide whether she could stay. JNS.ORG
{Matzav.com Israel}
What right does she have to step foot into Israel, let alone learn in Israel’s universities, if she’s anti Israel? Let her go to some Islamic state or even join ISIS.
Lara Alqasem [Lara Lee Alqasem] is the 2016-2017 president and primary contact of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of Florida (UF).
Alqasem has been a member of SJP UF since 2014 and has previously served as the group’s vice president.
SJP UF, whitewashes and supports Muslim terrorist attacks on Israelis.
On October 13, 2015, SJP UF posted an article titled, “Death-chanting Israeli mob rejoices as Palestinian teen is executed.” The article — from the Electronic Intifada (EI) site — linked to an EI video titled, “Israeli police kill Fadi Alloun in cold blood.”
Fadi Aloon was shot by Israeli security forces after he stabbed a 15-year-old Israeli boy. Several hours before the attack, Aloon posted “Either martyrdom or victory” on his Facebook page.
On October 18, 2015, SJP UF posted on Facebook an image with the misleading caption “Israeli settler, shoots, kills teenage Palestinian boy in Hebron” and linked to an article obscuring the fact that 18-year-old Fadil Qawasmi had been shot while trying to stab an Israeli citizen on the Jewish Sabbath.
The 15-year-old boy was Moshe Malka, and the lefty supporters of Lara Alqasem effectively support the stabbing of a 15-year-old Israeli boy.
SJP UF also straight up supported terrorists.
On March 21, 2013, SJP UF members held a protest and a “24-hour solidarity hunger strike” at UF to support Samer Issawi, who received a 26 year prison sentence in 2002.
Samer Issawi received a twenty-six year prison sentence in 2002 for manufacturing and distributing pipe bombs and shooting at Israeli civilians and police during the second intifada. He is a member of theDemocratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP).
In November 2014, SJP UF took part in a national day of action for terrorist Rasmea Odeh.
Odeh was a key military operative with the terrorist group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). In 1969, Odeh masterminded a PFLP bombing that killed two college students in a Jerusalem supermarket. Odeh also attempted to bomb the British consulate.
This is support for terrorism. It’s not non-violent. And any country targeted this way has the right to detain and expel foreigners who support terrorist violence against their citizens.
To Lara Alqasem
I think any self-respecting BDS activist should not waste their time in the entity they hate so much
All these leftist social justice warriors should head to North Korea and do some work over there. I will set up a go fund me to pay for their (one way) ticket.
The University should also be banned in Israel! SHUT IT DOWN