After two denied appeals and nearly two weeks living in Ben Gurion Airport’s detainment center, UF graduate Lara Alqasem will have her final hearing.
Alqasem appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court on Friday, said the Consul General of Israel to Florida Lior Haiat. The court agreed Sunday to have a hearing within the next few days regarding whether or not Alqasem can enter Israel and study at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
It is rare for the Israeli Supreme Court to hear cases unless they are urgent or will result in an irrevocable decision, Haiat said.
Until the hearing, Alqasem will continue to reside in the airport detainment center, Haiat said.
Alqasem’s second appeal to the Tel Aviv District Court was denied on Friday, Haiat said.
Israelis are torn on Alqasem’s case, Haiat said. Like any political situation, there are people who agree and disagree with it.
“Israel is an active democracy,” he said.
Tamir Sorek, Alqasem’s former professor and a UF professor of sociology and Jewish studies, was not surprised when Alqasem was denied for the second time. The Israeli government is trying to undermine any form of Palestinian activism and struggle for Palestinian rights, he said.
“The fact that she is ready to continue and suffer there means that she believes she is doing it for a great cause,” Sorek said. “I really appreciate her courage.”
Contact Dana Cassidy at dcassidy@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @danacassidy_
Lara Alqasem, a member of the Radical Students Alliance and then-UF political science sophomore, speaks during a candlelight vigil in support of refugees in 2015. “You only leave home when home is the mouth of a shark,” she said. “No one puts their children on boats unless the boat is safer than the land.”
