A 22-year-old American student by the name of Lara Alqasem has been detained at Ben-Gurion International Airport for almost a week after landing in Israel, where she had planned to get her master's degree.
While she is not yet as well-known as Palestinian icon Ahed Tamimi, worry not because her publicists are working overtime to make that happen. It is a little strange that her chief publicist is Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan. But, hey, Tamimi was represented by Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, so it looks like this government is doing a great job in this particular field.
Alqasem is a threat to the State of Israel. True, she did not attack an Israeli soldier like Tamimi. She did something much worse: During her studies at the University of Florida, she led a heroic struggle against Sabra Hummus. If this was just regular hummus we were talking about, all could have been forgiven. But Alqasem called for the boycott of all types of hummus flavors, including pine nut.
Of course, prior to her arrest, no one had ever heard of Alqasem, but that is not because Israelis don't read newspapers and are oblivious to the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. It is because her activities did not present any threat whatsoever to Israel. To be honest, she probably didn't even have a negative impact on the economy: Sabra continues to be the United States' leading brand of hummus. The only people who might have stopped buying it are some bored students with no understanding of Middle East affairs.
Regardless, from our standpoint, Alqasem is a very dangerous woman who cannot be allowed entry, even though she was accepted into Hebrew University's master's program. We will defend the State of Israel from this great threat that is scheming to enter our territory. The blood of Israeli hummus, ladies and gentlemen, will not be spilled in vain.
Never mind that the decision to bar her entry has caused a great deal of damage to Israel's image around the world and done more to assist advocates of BDS than any marginal student group ever could. Nor does it make any difference that the Committee of University Heads has warned her detention harms the standing of Israeli academia.
Who cares that the last time Israel put a girl in prison, it ended with a warm reception with one of the most important soccer teams in the world, Real Madrid, and photo shoots with as many media outlets as possible. We will continue to constantly make the same mistakes, in the name of the internal power struggle aimed at proving to the Likud party and the public which minister is the most right-wing of them all.
In the end, this young woman will be let go. Israel cannot hold her in detention forever. Upon her release, she will be deemed a hero and her story will be covered by media outlets everywhere. There will be no shortage of interviews.
Alqasem may have landed in Israel a completely anonymous figure, but she will leave a celebrity. No one has ever garnered this much attention and publicity from a container of hummus, of that you can be sure.
