The Tel Aviv District Court was set to hear an appeal on Sunday against the planned deportation of American BDS activist Lara Alqasem from Israel.
Alqasem arrived at Ben-Gurion International Airport from Florida on Tuesday and was denied entry when her name came up in a Strategic Affairs Ministry database of anti-Israel activists. She was arrested and has been in detention since then.
Her case has garnered the attention of radical left-wing groups, who have accused Israel of denying her entry because of her Arab surname.
One of those to come to Alqasem's defense was Zionist Union MK Merav Michaeli, who said the incident "exposes the unbearable ease of the deportation, defamation and incitement law, but also the stupidity of the boycott law itself."
Michaeli was referring to the Knesset's approval in May 2017 of a controversial law denying visas and residency permits to people who support boycotting Israel.
Alqasem joined the anti-Israel, pro-BDS group Students for Justice in Palestine in 2014 and was the group's president in 2016-2017, while a student at the University of Florida.
In an initial hearing, the court sided with the state, ruling that Alqasem should be denied entry to Israel. The court also took into account the fact that Alqasem lied about her anti-Israel activities when questioned at the airport and removed anti-Israel content from her social media profiles in an effort to conceal her BDS support.
Alqasem had received a student visa to study at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem from the Israeli Consulate in Miami. She did this by concealing her involvement in an event promoting a boycott of Sabra Hummus in which participants accused Israel of the "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians.
While Alqasem later admitted to serving as SJP president while she was at the University of Florida, she claimed the organization was not active during her tenure.
Judge Dotan Bergman did not find her claim convincing, writing in his ruling, "Although she tried to dwarf the [SJP] organization and her role in the organization, it has been proved that Alqasem previously served in senior positions in the organization, and that during her term, the organization called for a boycott of the State of Israel."
