A Tel Aviv court on Friday rejected the appeal of a U.S. student who has been barred from entering the country because of her involvement in the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, her lawyer said.
She is set to be deported.
Lara Alqasem has until Sunday to decide whether to appeal her case to the Israeli Supreme Court or to leave the country, her attorney, Yotam Ben-Hillel, said. In the meantime, she will remain in detention.
Alqasem, 22, arrived in Israel on Oct. 2 with a valid student visa, issued by the Israeli consulate in Miami, to pursue her graduate studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. But she was stopped at Ben-Gurion International Airport and barred from entering the country because of her role as president of a local chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, which promotes BDS, at the University of Florida. She has been held in detention at the airport since, though Israel says she is free to return to the U.S. at any time.
While in airport detention, she filed an appeal with Tel Aviv District Court against the ban. The court turned her down on Friday, finding for the state.
Hebrew University has called for her to be let in.
Alqasem, whose father is Palestinian, has argued that she is no longer involved in the movement. But Israel's Strategic Affairs Ministry, which leads the country's efforts against BDS, is unconvinced and has demanded that she apologize and pledge not to resume her past activities.
Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan welcomed Friday's decision.
"The court clearly declared that a state has the right to protect itself not only in matters of security but also to fight boycotts against its products, culture or standing," he said in a statement. "I will continue to fight with everything available against those who try to harm Israel and its citizens."
She stopped her activities in the Students for Justice group months before the anti-boycott law came into effect, her lawyer told the court.
At an earlier hearing, Alqasem pledged not to take part in boycott activities while in Israel and said she did not intend to visit the West Bank, her attorneys said.
BDS supporters say that in urging businesses, artists and universities to sever ties with Israel, they are using nonviolent means to resist unjust policies toward Palestinians. Israel says the movement masks its motives to delegitimize or destroy the Jewish state.
Israel enacted a law last year banning entry for any foreigner who "knowingly issues a public call for boycotting Israel." But it has come under heavy criticism for its handling of Alqasem's case.
But Friday's 11-page verdict by Judge Erez Yekutiel said the law made no clear distinction between past and present activism, giving the state discretion to bar anyone it deemed "liable" to promote an anti-Israel boycott.
Yekutiel also noted that his court was not empowered to contradict national legislation. Israel's Supreme Court is offering a possible last resort for appellants turned down by lower district courts.
Alqasem's lawyers could not be reached for comment on the eve of Shabbat when Israeli public services shut down.
