The US has denied entry to the co-founder of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, Washington-based advocacy group the Arab American Institute (AAI) said Thursday, Anadolu reports.
AAI said Omar Barghouti, a Palestinian activist, was barred from taking a flight to New York on Wednesday. He was stopped at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, according to the institute, which had been coordinating his trip to the US.
BREAKING: Palestinian activist and BDS co-founder Omar Barghouti has been denied entry to the US, where he was scheduled for a speaking tour. https://t.co/HiXq1s9aLj pic.twitter.com/Xuh9zEu2FS
— US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (@USCPR_) April 11, 2019
Barghouti, the co-founder of the BDS movement, had a valid US visa as well as the proper travel documents, AAI said.
James Zogby, president of AAI, said in a statement:
“Omar Barghouti is a leading Palestinian voice on human rights. Omar’s denial of entry into the US is the latest example of the Trump administration’s disregard for those rights.”
Barghouti also released a statement, which was posted online, saying the denial of entry is part of Israel’s repression of the Palestinian people.
Israel is "increasingly outsourcing its outrageous, McCarthyite repression to the US and to xenophobic, far-right cohorts around the world," says @BDSmovement's Omar Barghouti after Trump administration denies him entry https://t.co/kN1CXt9xQo
— Ali Abunimah (@AliAbunimah) April 11, 2019
According to a statement, which was posted on the BDS movement’s Twitter account, Barghouti said:
“The US 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 BDS movement for freedom, justice and equality.”
He added:
“Supporters of Israeli apartheid in the US are desperately trying to deny US lawmakers, media, diverse audiences at universities, a bookstore and a synagogue their right to listen, first-hand, to a Palestinian human rights advocate calling for ending US complicity in Israel’s crimes against our people. But all my talks will go ahead, with me speaking online.”
Omar Barghouti, a co-founder of the BDS Movement, was denied entry to the US by US immigration officials yesterday.
Israel is outsourcing its escalating repression against Palestinian, Israeli & international human rights defenders in the #BDS movement.
His statement is below: pic.twitter.com/SiZftO7Ezl
— BDS movement (@BDSmovement) April 11, 2019
The BDS movement was formed in 2005 by 170 Palestinian civil society and rights groups and calls for a boycott of Israeli companies involved in violating Palestinian human rights and for institutions to withdraw their investments in those companies as a form of non-violent pressure on Israel.
It also calls for sanctions campaigns to pressure governments to fulfill their legal obligation to hold Israel to account.
After listening to Omar Barghouti for 20 minutes & it’s clear why Israel hates him, US denies him entry to speak to US audiences, & Congress denounces him. They’re afraid of him because he’s so scary smart & his explanation of #BDS is so compelling. pic.twitter.com/uUrY46BT9V
— James J. Zogby (@jjz1600) April 11, 2019
The movement works to end international support for Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law, according to its official website.
The ban on Barghouti’s entry comes as Republicans in the House of Representatives pushed forward a petition to force the Senate to vote on a bill that would allow state and city governments to penalize entities seeking to boycott, divest from or sanction the state of Israel.
Some 26 states across the US have imposed anti-BDS measures.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
