© Amir Cohen/ReutersLara Alqasem
Lara Alqasem, a US student of Palestinian descent, spent over a week in a Tel Aviv airport after being denied entry to Israel over alleged support for BDS. Determined to study in Jerusalem, she's fighting the decision in court.
The 22-year-old student had her second appeal hearing on Thursday, but the court is yet to announce its final ruling.
Alqasem, whose father is Palestinian, arrived in Israel with a valid student visa hoping to study human rights at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
But officials say she can't be allowed to enter the country because of her ties to the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, which is set to boycott Israel over its occupation of the West Bank. The student denies supporting BDS, but the government claims that Alqasem had deliberately edited her social media accounts to obscure her activism.
During her appeal, Alqasem argued that she never actively participated in anti-Israeli campaigns. She "simply wants to study in Israel" and does not wish to promote any sort of boycott, the student's lawyer Yotam Ben-Hillel
told the
Washington Post.
Comment: Those in the media are so possessed by their rabid fantasies over Russia and Trump that they simply cannot fathom how people are not hanging onto their every word. These fanatics have tried to infiltrate every corner of American existence, and it's no surprise millenials have chosen to tune it out.