An American Jewish woman was temporarily detained at Israel’s Ben-Gurion airport on September 12 and initially denied entry, on the basis that she had previously visited Palestinians facing home demolitions in the occupied West Bank, reported Haaretz.
Julie Shayna Weinberg-Connors, 23, who arrived on a flight from the United States in order to start studying at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, was finally “informed that she could enter Israel on condition that she did not go into the West Bank without a permit”.
On arrival at the airport, Weinberg-Connors had already obtained a temporary resident’s visa and a potential immigrant’s visa.
According to Weinberg-Connors, she was told by the investigator at the airport that she “can’t go” to the West Bank; when she responded that with the visa she had, visiting the West Bank was not illegal, the investigator replied, “No, it’s not [illegal] but we told you that you cannot go there”.
In addition, when she acknowledged having visited Khan Al-Ahmar, a Palestinian community slated for demolition in the West Bank, the investigator got up and said, “You cannot enter. You are here to make trouble”.
Source: MEMO
