Ariel Gold is 43. A mother of two. She's a U.S. citizen and a Jew who says she sends her children to Jewish summer camps every year, and her rabbi backs her support for a boycott of Israel as a way of ending the occupation.
She has been here a few times, alone or with her children, and each time she made her presence felt: Having her photo taken next to the Western Wall while holding up a banner decrying the occupation and calling for a boycott of Israel, or showing up in Hebron to follow the trail of Issa Amro (a Palestinian who heads an anti-settler movement and calls for a non-violent citizen revolt, and gets arrested from time to time – by the IDF for incitement, and by the Palestinian security services for insulting PA President Mahmoud Abbas on social media), or taking part in protests in the Palestinian village of Bil'in. She was arrested at one and released.
Following her most recent visit to Israel, she received written notification that if she wanted to visit Israel again, she would have to apply for a special permit. She asked for a student visa through her local Israeli consulate, declaring she intended to enroll in Jewish Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She got her visa, and flew to Ben-Gurion International Airport, where she was detained. Interior Minister Aryeh Deri immediately revoked the visa and Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan announced that "anyone supporting the boycott of Israel will not be allowed into the country." Israel wasn't showered with compliments in the world media over its decision.
Gold went back to the U.S., and it has reported that she intends to make aliyah under the Law of Return. A new chapter in the saga is about to begin.
The Law of Return, which invites any Jew to live in Israel and receive citizenship, states that "an oleh's [new immigrant] visa shall be granted to every Jew who has expressed their desire to settle in Israel, unless the Minister of the Interior is satisfied that the applicant 1) is engaged in an activity directed against the Jewish people; or 2) is likely to endanger public health or the security of the state; or 3) is a person with a criminal past, likely to endanger public welfare."
Proving that Gold (who brought her son to the Western Wall for his bar mitzvah and continually consults with her rabbi) poses a risk to the Jewish people or our health or security will require legal maneuvering that no panel of the High Court is likely to accept. So if she decides that making aliyah is the best way for her to realize her worldview, the authorities will have to open the gate of the nation to her.
Ariel Gold makes me angry, too. Like her, I would also like to put an end to our rule over the Palestinians, but I am convinced that boycotting Israel is an unjust, immoral – not to mention ineffective – tool to use to achieve that end. If there was ever a diplomatic example of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, this would be it.
However, I'd like to believe that our country is strong enough to accept voices like these, whether it's to talk to them and explain the problematic nature of such propaganda, or just to prove that our democracy can take criticism as long as it doesn't incite to violence. Deporting Gold has boomeranged.
