American grad student accused of supporting boycott detained in Israel

Lara Alqasem.
(Image credit: Alqasem family via AP)

An American graduate student has spent the last week in detention at Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport, after the government accused her of backing a Palestinian-led boycott of Israeli products.

In 2017, Israel enacted a law that prohibits any foreigner who "knowingly issues a public call for boycotting Israel" from entering the country. Last Tuesday, 22-year-old Lara Alqasem of Southwest Ranches, Florida, landed at the airport with a valid student visa to study human rights at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Airport staff believed she was a supporter of the BDS movement, which calls for boycotts, divestment, and sanctions against Israel as a way to protest its policy toward Palestinians, The Associated Press reports. She was ordered deported and is appealing, but an Israeli court has ordered she remain in custody during the process.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.