US student Lara Alqasem was denied entry into Israel upon her arrival at the Ben Gurion Airport on Oct. 2. Alqasem had received a student visa to attend the Hebrew University, but authorities argued that she was a boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) activist against Israel. Alqasem then petitioned the court, with the Hebrew University joining her action.

The decision of Hebrew University Rector Barak Medina to support the fight of Alqasem was not only motivated by a desire to protect a student of the University. The significance and importance of his decision was in pitting the Hebrew University, the leading Israeli academic institution founded 100 years ago, against the government’s policy, which is viewed by the university leaders as rejecting basic human rights, most of all freedom of expression. 

Alqasem had been active in the University of Florida chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, an organization that works to boycott Israeli academics and applies the boycott doctrine of BDS. Despite her activity in the group, she visited Israel a year ago, and following her visit applied to study for an international master of arts in human rights and transitional justice at the Law Department of the Hebrew University. She received a student visa from the Israeli Consulate in Miami, but upon her arrival, she was interrogated by representatives of the Interior Ministry and representatives of the Ministry for Strategic Affairs. Then the visa she had received was nullified. 

The decision to ban her entry was based on the Law of Entry to Israel, which was amended in 2017 to stipulate that a visa would not be granted to anyone who called for boycotting Israel or participated in such a boycott. The amendment particularly targeted supporters of the BDS movement. Upon her detention at the airport, Alqasem initiated a legal battle to reverse the decision, but the Tel Aviv District Court determined that she met the standards the law set to deny entry to Israel.