Tel Aviv – An Israeli Court is scheduled to hold a hearing in the case of a detained U.S. Student who was barred from entering the country over her alleged support for boycotts of Israel.
Lara Alqasem, 22, who is of Palestinian descent, has remained in a detention centre for over a week pending appeal.
She attempted to enter Israel on a student visa to start a graduate degree at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Alqasem was prevented from entering over her past affiliation with Students for Justice in Palestine, which supports boycotts of Israel.
The court is expected to rule on the validity of the government’s decision to bar her within the next few days.
The student is free to return to the United States, but she chose to remain in the detention centre at Ben Gurion Airport because she is determined to start her graduate programme on time, her lawyer Yotam Ben-Hillel said.
During her testimony to the appeals court, Alqasem said she no longer supports BDS, an international movement to boycott and sanction Israel.
BDS says it seeks an economic and cultural boycott of what it calls Israel’s “entire regime of oppression’’ in the name of Palestinian human rights. Israel accuses the movement of anti-Semitism and seeking an end to the Jewish-majority state by promoting the return of Palestinian refugees.