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A Columbia University professor was barred from entering Israel because of her ties to the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, Haaretz reported. Katherine Franke, a professor of law at Columbia, was barred from entering Israel because of her “prominent role” with Jewish Voice for Peace, an organization that supports the movement to boycott Israel, a spokesman for the Strategic Affairs Ministry told Haaretz. Franke, who personally supports the BDS movement, said she is not currently involved with JVP but has sat on its academic advisory board in the past.
Vincent Warren, the executive director of the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, was also blocked from entering the country. Franke and Warren, who planned to lead a delegation of human rights activists who were touring Israel and the West Bank, were detained and questioned at Ben Gurion airport for 14 hours Sunday before being flown home to New York.
Israel passed a law in 2017 barring the entry of foreign supporters of the BDS movement. Haaretz reported that in January Israel released a list of 20 groups, including JVP, whose leading members would be barred from entering the country.
