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.