Posts Tagged ‘freedom fo speech’

Omar Barghouti denied entry to United States

April 13, 2019
Omar Barghouti in 2014. “I am hurt, but I am not deterred,” he said.CreditRob Stothard/Getty Images
In a further sign of the increasing US policy of denying visa to those it disagrees with newspapers (here the NYT) on 11 April 2019, report that the United States has barred entry to Omar Barghouti, one of the co-founders of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (B.D.S). This U.S. entry ban against me, which is ideologically and politically motivated, is part of Israel’s escalating repression against Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights defenders in the B.D.S. movement,” Mr. Barghouti said in a statement. He called for an end to what he called “U.S. complicity in Israel’s crimes against our people.” [See also recently: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2019/03/21/many-ngo-participants-denied-visa-to-attend-commission-on-the-status-of-women-in-new-york/ and https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2019/03/16/us-ngos-react-furiously-to-visa-restrictions-imposed-on-icc-investigators-by-trump-administration/]

Mr. Barghouti was supposed to speak at a series of events in the United States organized by the Arab American Institute in Washington, including at panels at Harvard University and an event with New York University. He was also planning to attend his daughter’s wedding in Texas.

Mr. Barghouti, a permanent resident of Israel, was stopped at Israel’s international airport when he tried to board a flight to Washington via Frankfurt, and airline staff told him only that the American Consulate in Tel Aviv had been directed to stop him from traveling. He said he was told it was an immigration matter but was given no further explanation.

Critics say American laws against supporters of the boycott are unconstitutional and limit free speech. But this year, the Senate passed a bill to safeguard the right of states to adopt anti-B.D.S. laws.

 

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