U.S. student detained in Israel

JERUSALEM -- In a groundbreaking case, Israel has detained an American graduate student at its international airport for the past week, accusing her of supporting a Palestinian-led boycott campaign against the Jewish state.

The case highlights Israel's concerns about the boycott movement and the great efforts it has made to stop it. The grassroots campaign has made significant inroads in recent years, particularly among university students and millennials.

Lara Alqasem, a 22-year-old U.S. citizen with Palestinian grandparents, landed at Ben-Gurion Airport Oct. 2 with a valid student visa. But she was barred from entering the country and ordered deported, based on suspicions she is a boycott supporter.

An Israeli court has ordered she remain in custody while she appeals. The weeklong detention is the longest anyone has been held in a boycott-related case, and it was not immediately clear Tuesday when a final decision would be made.

In the meantime, she has been spending her days in a closed area with little access to a telephone, no internet and a bed infested with bedbugs, according to people who have spoken to her.

Alqasem, from the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Southwest Ranches, Florida, is a former president of the University of Florida chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. The group is a branch of the BDS movement, whose name comes from its calls for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel.

BDS supporters say 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.

"Lara served as president of a chapter of one of the most extreme and hate-filled anti-Israel BDS groups in the U.S.," said Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan, who spearheads the Israeli government's efforts against the boycott. "Israel will not allow entry to those who work to harm the country, whatever their excuse."

The ministry said during Alqasem's involvement with Students for Justice in Palestine, the club advocated a boycott against Sabra hummus, an Israeli-owned brand of chickpea dip.

On Tuesday, Erdan floated a possible compromise, saying in a radio interview he would rethink his decision to expel her if she apologizes and renounces her support for BDS.

"If Lara Alqasem will tomorrow in her own voice, not through all kinds of lawyers or statements that can be misconstrued, say that support for BDS is not legitimate and she regrets what she did, we will certainly reconsider our position," he said.

Israel enacted a law last year banning any foreigner who "knowingly issues a public call for boycotting Israel" from entering the country. It also has identified 20 activist groups from around the world whose members can be denied entry upon arrival. It so far has blocked 15 people from entering, according to Erdan's ministry.