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A professor at the University of Florida appealed Tuesday for the release of a former student who has been held by Israeli authorities for a week.
Lara Alqasem, a U.S. citizen, has been in Israeli custody since arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport last Tuesday with a valid student visa hoping to study law, human rights and freedom of travel at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Israeli officials are denying 22-year-old Alqasem entry based on allegations that she supported the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which urges businesses, educational institutions and celebrities to cut ties with Israel.
The movement has long been criticized by Israeli officials, and the Israeli parliament, known as the Knesset, passed a law in 2017 allowing authorities to deny entry to individuals who make public calls for a boycott of Israel.
Dror Abend-David, who taught Alqasem at the University of Florida, said he is "one of many people," including her former professors, who think she should be released and allowed to study immediately.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas received a phone call on Tuesday from German Chancellor Angela Merkel to brief him on her talks in Israel last week, according to the official Wafa news agency.Merkel met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem last week for talks on bilateral relations. She, however, did not visit Ramallah during her two-day visit.During the phone contact, the German Chancellor reiterated the support of Germany and the EU for the two-state solution and voiced her concern over the situation in the Gaza Strip, Wafa said.Merkel said the EU was continuing its financial support to UN refugee agency UNRWA to maintain its role in helping Palestinian refugees.In September, the U.S. State Department announced that Washington would “no longer commit funding” to UNRWA.The U.S. had been UNRWA's largest contributor by far, providing it with $350 million annually -- roughly one quarter of the agency's overall budget.Established in 1949, UNRWA provides critical aid to Palestinian refugees in the blockaded Gaza Strip, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.Abbas, for his part, underlined his commitment to peace negotiations based on the two-state solution and UN resolutions, according to Wafa.U.S.-sponsored peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel collapsed in 2014 over the latter’s refusal to halt settlement building in the occupied West Bank.Last December, U.S. President Donald Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, triggering world outcry.Ever since, the Palestinian Authority has rejected any U.S. mediation in peace talks with Israel.Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Middle East conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem -- occupied by Israel since 1967 -- might eventually serve as the capital of an independent Palestinian state.Merkel's conservatives rule out working with Germany's far-right AfDMerkel offers qualified support for 'Jewish state'
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"Everyone who taught her was very impressed with her," he told Anadolu Agency. "There’s a very active group of professors here on campus who are working for her."
One of the proposals being floated, Abend-David said, is a reevaluation of the university's study abroad program in Israel.
That could effectively make Israel's policy of denying entry to BDS supporters an own goal.
When asked if he thought Israeli officials could ironically be accomplishing BDS' goals for the movement, Abend-David pointed to two works of Soviet-era Russian literature that he said "made the point that bureaucrats don’t see irony".
The Israeli authorities have ratcheted up security measures on Palestinian laborers who work at the Barkan settlement in the occupied West Bank.On Sunday, two Israeli settlers were killed and a third was injured in a shooting attack inside an industrial zone near the Jewish-only Barkan settlement.Laborers who spoke to Anadolu Agency on Tuesday said they now had to undergo hours-long searches when going to work at Israeli factories located in the settlement."Before the shooting [on Sunday], we would enter [Barkan] in 15 minutes; now I have to wait at the entrance of the industrial zone for an hour and a half before I can to get to work," Muayed Amer, a Palestinian laborer, told Anadolu Agency.378 Palestinians detained in September: Advocacy groupsLaborer Mohamed Hassan, for his part, said workers were now forced to wait “for hours” -- even though they had work permits -- until being allowed to enter their places of employment on the settlement.Following Sunday’s shooting, the assailant -- a former Palestinian worker from the West Bank city of Tulkarm -- managed to flee the scene and is now the target of a manhunt by police. Israel wants ‘public apology’ to allow US student inUNRWA slams Israeli plans to close Jerusalem office
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Hebrew University President Asher Cohen told Israel's Army Radio that Israel's actions could harm the university's anti-BDS efforts and could end up serving the movement instead, according to the Times of Israel.
Israel earlier Tuesday conditioned Alqasem's release on her issuing a public apology for her alleged support of the global boycott.
''If Alqasem comes forward tomorrow morning with her own voice, not with all sorts of lawyers' wisecracking and statements that could be construed this way or another – and declares that supporting BDS, she thinks today, is illegitimate and she regrets what she did on this matter, we will consider our stance,” Minister of Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan said on Twitter on Tuesday.
The Israeli government has conditioned a public apology from a U.S. student, who is allegedly linked to a global boycott campaign against Israel, to be allowed entry into the country, Israeli daily Haaretz reported.Last week, Israeli authorities denied entry to Lara Alqasem despite having a student visa from the Israeli consulate in Miami.''If Alqasem comes forward tomorrow morning with her own voice, not with all sorts of lawyers' wisecracking and statements that could be construed this way or another – and declares that supporting BDS, she thinks today is illegitimate and she regrets what she did on this matter, we will consider our stance,” Minister of Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan said on Twitter on Tuesday.The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement is a global campaign devoted to pressuring Israel -- economically and politically -- to end its ongoing violations of international law.Israeli officials argue that Alqasem, who was planned to join the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, supports the BDS and took part in campaigns boycotting Israel.The U.S. student has been detained at Israel’s Ben-Gurion airport since she arrived in the country.Her first appeal against the Israeli decision to deny her entry was denied last week. A second appeal is expected to be heard in the coming days.UNRWA slams Israeli plans to close Jerusalem officeIsrael detains mother of West Bank shooterPalestinian women suffer abuses in Israeli jailsIsrael detains mother of West Bank shooter
Israel wants ‘public apology’ to allow US student in
Her first appeal against the Israeli decision to deny her entry was denied last week. A second appeal is expected to be heard in the coming days.
The U.S. State Department on Tuesday punted on questions about Alqasem's case, saying it is up to Israel to decide who it allows into the country.
Israeli officials and their supporters have regularly alleged the BDS movement is inherently anti-Semitic. But when asked if he thought Alqasem was anti-Semitic herself, Abend-David was unequivocal in his response.
“Lara was not anti-Semitic in any way, shape or form," he said. "She has been kind and polite and helpful with no hint that she felt badly of Israel or anyone who is connected with that country.”