Lara Alqasem

Lara Alqasem was detained and denied entry to Israel in 2018 for activism with the Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment (BDS) movement and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).

During the period of her detention, which began in October 2018, Alqasem received support from two pro-BDS organizations, including Nonviolence International (NI), where she had interned. After her initial appeal was rejected, Alqasem appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court, which granted her request for entry into Israel.

During the 2016-2017 academic year, Alqasem was president of the SJP chapter at the University of Florida (UF SJP), according to deleted UF SJP Facebook posts.

Alqasem was also listed as the vice president of UF SJP in 2015-2016. During her tenure as vice president, the group promoted BDS on campus, expressed support for terrorists and demonized Israel and Zionism on their social media accounts.

Alqasem has also campaigned for the BDS movement in her personal capacity.

As of May 2024, Alqasem’s LinkedIn profile said that she worked as a student researcher at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI). However, her LinkedIn listed her as being located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Alqasem reportedly graduated from UF in May 2018, with a bachelor’s degree in “major foreign languages and Arabic literature, as well as international studies with an emphasis on the Middle East.”

In May 2024, Alqasem had the handle “@lara_lee” on Instagram.

Alqasem’s father, Rafiq Alqasem has spread anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel on multiple occasions on his social media. He is a supporter of BDS and SJP.  

Denied Entry Into Israel

In the summer of 2018, Alqasem, an American citizen, applied for and was granted a student visa to Israel by the Israeli consulate in Miami, Florida, in anticipation of studying at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University (HU) on scholarship, in a human rights master’s degree program in Human Rights and Transitional Justice, from 2018-2019.

Upon her arrival on October 2, 2018, Alqasem was detained and denied entry into Israel because of her SJP leadership and BDS activism.

Alqasem appealed the decision of the Israeli border control to refuse her entry. Her lawyers claimed that she never actively participated in a boycott campaign. Her attorneys also stated, inaccurately, that she had ceased her involvement with BDS by February or April of 2017 and represented that she would not engage in BDS activity while in Israel.

Although Alqasem denied any continuing connection with BDS, two BDS-promoting organizations, NI and the Holy Land Trust (HLT), campaigned for and sought to financially aid Alqasem’s entry to Israel.

On October 10, 2018, the Associated Press (AP) reported that Alqasem was “detained in Israel” due to her “alleged Boycott support” and reported that she claimed “she never actively participated in boycott campaigns.” AP also reported a claim by Alqasem’s mother that her daughter “only belonged to [UF SJP] for a semester.”  

The day prior, AP reported that Gilad Erdan, then Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs, proposed a “possible compromise,” saying in a radio interview that he would rethink the decision to bar her entry if she apologized and renounced her support for BDS:

“If Lara Alqasem will tomorrow in her own voice, not through all kinds of lawyers or statements that can be misconstrued, say that support for BDS is not legitimate and she regrets what she did, we will certainly reconsider our position.”

On October 11, 2018, United Press International (UPI) reported that Yotam Ben-Hillel, Alqasem’s lawyer, rejected Erdan’s offer. On October 12, 2018, Al Jazeera confirmed Alqasem’s counsel was “said to have stridently refused” Erdan’s offer.

Erdan reportedly received and rejected a letter sent to him by Alqasem’s legal team, because it did not match his offer. According to the Miami Herald, Erdan noted on October 11th: “[The letter] didn’t say she renounces what she did in the past or that she promises not to do so in the future. It said, more or less, that during the period of her studies in Israel she won’t be involved in boycott activities.’’

On October 14, 2018, Alqasem was scheduled to be deported back to the U.S., after her initial appeal was rejected but she appealed the District Court’s decision to the Israeli High Court of Justice. Israel’s High Court of Justice froze Alqasem’s deportation and gave the state 24 hours to respond in writing to Alqasem's appeal of her deportation order. A hearing was scheduled for Wednesday, October 17, 2018.

On October 18, 2018, the Israeli Supreme Court overturned the decisions of the two lower courts and granted Alqasem entry to Israel, upon the belief that she had terminated her association with BDS and SJP in April of 2017. Alqasem’s counsel, Yotam Ben Hillel, had assured the Court that Alqasem terminated her involvement with SJP in “April 2017 at the latest. Could be maybe February 2017.”

On October 19, 2018, the Jerusalem Post reported on UF SJP Facebook posts indicating Alqasem’s continued involvement with the group well after April 2017. One post featured pictures of Alqasem participating in a UF SJP event on September 28, 2017. A picture of individuals at the event with Alqasem at its center was also used by UF SJP to recruit new board members for 2018-2019.

Support From Pro-BDS Groups

At the time Alqasem was denied entry into Israel, she had pre-existing relationships with pro-BDS organizations NI and HLT. During her detention, both organizations attempted to aid Alqasem.

On October 3, 2018, NI, a member group of the pro-BDS U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR), directed Facebook readers to an HLT-initiated campaign that demanded Alqasem’s admittance to Israel. NI’s post referred to Alqasem as a “former [NI] intern.”

As of October 2018, HLT was listed on BDS’s official website as an endorsing organization. HLT’s website referred to NI as “our fiscal sponsor” and urged donors to use NI to channel funds to HLT. NI’s website also advertised NI’s fiscal sponsorship of, and partnership with, flotillas organized to breach Israel’s naval arms blockade on Gaza.

Cody O’Rourke, HLT’s Head of Communications and Fundraising, led HLT’s campaign for Alqasem’s admittance to Israel and contacted media on Alqasem’s behalf. O’Rourke, has lived in Israel since at least 2012 and regularly leads anti-Israel HLT delegations throughout Israel.

The campaign headed by O’Rourke was headlined: “Stop racial discrimination at Ben Gurion Airport: Release US Student from detention.”

On May 31, 2018, O’Rourke was hosted by UF SJP, at the Emmanuel Mennonite Church of Gainesville, Florida.

On October 5, 2018, UF SJP affiliate and 2018 UF graduate Dalia Figueredo, started a GoFundMe.com page for Alqasem’s legal fund. Figueredo also indicated on Facebook that she “went” to the May 31, 2018 UF SJP O’Rourke event.

On October 6, 2018, NI shared the GoFundMe page on Facebook. As of October 21, 2018, the page had raised over $15,150.

As of October 22, 2018, NI had erased mention on its Facebook page that Alqasem was a “former intern” for them. O’Rourke had also changed his name and location on the HLT campaign page to read: “CHARLES CODY O'ROURKE Gladwin, United Kingdom.”

SJP President and Vice President

In November 2016, Alqasem was listed as the “primary contact” for UF SJP on the group’s official UF website.

On April 20, 2016, UF SJP wrote: “We would like to congratulate our new executive board and chair positions for the 2016-2017 school year: / President: Lara Alqasem…”

Alqasem was also listed as the vice-president of UF SJP in 2015-2016 and a member in 2014-2015.

Also during Alqasem’s tenure as its vice-president, UF SJP’s social media accounts expressed support for terrorists such as Leila Khaled and Rasmea Odeh and demonized Israel and Zionism.

Alqasem was denied entry into Israel in October 2018, because of her affiliation with SJP and her BDS activism. As part of her appeal, her attorneys claimed that she had terminated her association with SJP in April 2017, at the latest.

However, Alqasem was affiliated with UF SJP as late as September 30, 2017. In April 2018, UF SJP featured Alqasem in a Facebook photo promoting its board elections for the following academic year. The photo was taken during a September 2017 UF SJP-sponsored event.

Promoting BDS

During the course of her October 2018 appeal, Alqasem’s lawyers argued that she never actively participated in a boycott campaign.

However, in an April 18, 2016 UF SJP Facebook post, Alqasem, who was then UF SJP’s vice president, appeared in a now-deleted UF SJP Facebook photo, handing out flyers at a BDS event at UF. 

At the event, UF SJP activists promoted a boycott of Sabra Hummus, which is partially owned by the Strauss Group, an Israeli company that donated care packages to Israeli soldiers. In a Facebook video posted on April 18, 2016, UF SJP activists listed [00:00:20] Sabra Hummus’s ingredients as being “ethnic cleansing” and “apartheid,” as well as “Tear gas + rubber bullets.”

An April 18, 2016 photo of Alqasem at the event included fellow UF SJP activist Malu Brooks. UF SJP posted a Facebook video later that day where Brooks identified [00:00:31] the event as part of BDS.

On April 17, 2016, UF SJP promoted its BDS campaign, tweeting: “Just b/c the Strauss group headquarters are in NY it doesn’t mean y’all are off the (BDS) hook #SorryNotSorry #BoycottSabra.”

On the same day, UF SJP tweeted: “You want business huh? Quit funding a terrorist organization with hummus! SMH #BoycottSabra.”

Also on On April 17, 2016, UF SJP tweeted: “Hey Sabra, you have been asked multiple times that you stop supporting the ethnic cleansing and colonization of Palestine #BoycottSabra.”

On March 23, 2016, UF SJP posted a Prezi presentation called: “Closer Look at BDS: The Boycott Sabra Campaign” that accused Israel of “colonization and genocide.”

On March 15, 2016, Alqasem posted a now-deleted image to Facebook promoting UF SJP’s Palestinian Solidarity Month (PSM). The image Alqasem shared promoted a March 23, 2016 event on the UF campus, titled: “BOYCOTTING SABRA.”

Alqasem’s Father has Spread Neo-Nazi Propaganda

Lara Alqasem’s father, Rafiq Alqasem is a fervent supporter of the BDS movement and SJP and has spread anti-Semitism on social media.

He has justified terrorist attacks against Israeli Jews and promoted propaganda by former-Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke and white nationalist propaganda.

He has praised and shared videos of Holocaust denier and anti-Semite Brother Nathanael as well as the work of Holocaust denier, David Irving. He has also spread conspiracy theories about Jewish power and equated Israel with Nazi Germany.

UF SJP - Expressing Support for Terrorists

On March 8, 2016, during Alqasem’s tenure as vice president of UF SJP, the group posted on Facebook: “Happy International Women's Day!” and shared a post honoring terrorist Leila Khaled.

Leila Khaled is a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and participated in the hijacking of TWA Flight 840 in 1969 and El Al Flight 219 in 1970. As of 2017, Khaled was a member of PFLP's Political Bureau. Khaled has said that the second intifada failed because it was not violent enough, advocated [00:36:07] for the use of children in terror activities and compared Zionists to Nazis.  

On February 25, 2016, UF SJP posted on Facebook in support of terrorist Rasmea Odeh. UF SJP also participated in a national campaign for Odeh in November 2014.

Odeh was a key military operative with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization. In 1969, she masterminded a PFLP supermarket bombing that killed two college students. She also attempted to bomb the British consulate in Jerusalem. Odeh later moved to the United States but was deported to Jordan in 2017 for immigration fraud.

On February 17 and February 26, 2016, UF SJP posted in support of Muhammad al-Qiq on Facebook.

Israel detained hunger-striking Muhammad al-Qiq for Hamas terror-related activities. 

On October 18, 2015, SJP UF posted an article on Facebook with the caption: “Israeli settler, shoots, kills teenage Palestinian boy in Hebron.” The article obscured the fact an 18-year-old Fadil Qawasmi was shot in self-defense, by a civilian Qawasmi attempted to stab.  

In October 2015, there was an upsurge in violence across Israel incited by Palestinian political and religious leaders. The wave of stabbings, known as the “Knife Intifada,” was characterized by young Palestinians throughout the country stabbing and attempting to stab Israeli civilians.

On October 13, 2015, UF SJP posted an article titled: “Death-chanting Israeli mob rejoices as Palestinian teen is executed.” The article — from the Electronic Intifada (EI) site — linked to an EI video titled: “Israeli police kill Fadi Alloun in cold blood.” 

Fadi Aloon was shot by Israeli security forces after he stabbed a 15-year-old Israeli boy. Several hours before the attack, Aloon posted “Either martyrdom or victory” on his Facebook page. 

On August 17, 2015, UF SJP shared a link on Facebook in support of Mohammad Allan.

Allan is a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a terror group “whose objective is the destruction of the State of Israel and the establishment of a sovereign, Islamic Palestinian state.” Allan was first jailed by Israel in 2006 for trying to recruit a suicide bomber to carry out an attack in Israel. He was detained in 2014 for similar reasons. PIJ is backed by Iran and has killed dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings and other attacks.  

On March 8, 2015, UF SJP posted two images on Facebook attributed to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization.

The PFLP — designated a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada, Israel, the European Union, the Gulf Cooperation Council and Australia — pioneered aircraft hijackings to draw attention to their movement’s demands, most notably with the capture of an Air France plane in 1976.

The hijackers flew the plane to Entebbe, Uganda, where they separated nearly 100 Jewish passengers from the others and threatened to execute one Jew per hour. Israel, however, launched a successful commando raid to rescue the hostages.

The PFLP also claimed “credit” for the November 18, 2014 Har Nof Synagogue massacre — where PFLP operatives murdered six people with a gun, axes and a butcher knife during morning prayers. PFLP Gaza leader Hani Thawbta stated: “We declare full responsibility of the PFLP for the execution of this heroic operation..."  

On March 21, 2013, UF SJP members held a protest and a “24-hour solidarity hunger strike” at UF to support Samer Issawi.

Samer Issawi is a member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) who received a 26-year prison sentence in 2002. During the second intifada, Issawi manufactured and distributed pipe bombs and, in several incidents, fired indiscriminately on Israeli civilian vehicles.

UF SJP - Demonizing Israel

On March 30, 2016, UF SJP tweeted: “An agonizing and slow genocide is still a genocide. Water is a human right. End the siege of Gaza.” UF SJP linked to its Facebook post with the same message and a video about water pollution in Gaza.

The United Nations approved [pp. 39–41] the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza in 2011 as a security measure to stop Hamas from acquiring sophisticated rockets. Multiple flotillas have attempted to breach the blockade, with at least one flotilla initiating a violent confrontation with Israeli forces. 

On March 30, 2016, during Alqasem’s tenure as UF SJP vice-president, the group posted on Facebook: “Let's be clear: Palestinians have undergone apartheid, colonization, displacement, occupation and ethnic cleansing. Israel has continuously proven itself to be a racist apartheid state.”

The post linked to an article that accused Holocaust survivors who immigrated to Israel of having “arrogant racism” and repeatedly compared Israel to Apartheid South Africa.

On March 25, 2016, UF SJP shared a Facebook video where Dr. Mads Gilbert accused Israel of having [00:02:30] an “apartheid system” in Gaza and called for an end to the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza in order to improve public health.

Gilbert has been banned indefinitely from entering Gaza through Israel because of his connections to the Hamas leadership. 

In 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2014 Gilbert was stationed at a hospital that served as a Hamas command center and rocket launching site. During that time he acted as a propagandist for the Hamas government in Gaza.

In 2001, following al Qaeda's September 11 terrorist attacks, Gilbert expressed support for the terror acts as a “legitimate response.” In December of 2009, Gilbert was accused of faking resuscitation on a dead child in Gaza for dramatic effect for a CNN video.

On February 14, 2016, UF SJP tweeted that Israel practices “Apartheid.”

On September 12, 2015, UF SJP shared an article on Twitter that claimed “Zionism is fascism!” and compared Israel to Nazi Germany, claiming that the “terrible crimes committed against the Jewish people” are “the same thing being done to Palestinians today.”

The article condemned the City University of New York (CUNY) for hosting a play about Jews in 1930’s Berlin that was produced by Iddo Netanyahu, the brother of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

After concluding: “Zionism is fascism!” the article urged: “From Warsaw to Palestine, Genocide is Genocide! Liberate CUNY, Liberate Palestine!” UF SJP commented in its tweet: “CUNY Security Protects and Serves Zionism, Rough Handles Students.”

On February 19, 2015, UF SJP members staged a walk-out to interrupt the presentation of two former IDF soldiers who were invited to speak on campus about their personal experiences defending their country.

The protesters wore anti-Israel shirts, including one bearing the slogan: “You’re the real terrorist.”

UF SJP - Promoting BDS

On April 5, 2016, UF SJP tweeted: “#BDS: Over 100 Writers, Including Pulitzer Winners Junot Díaz, Richard Ford, and Alice Walker, and Award-Winning... http://fb.me/81tRQn70f”

On March 31, 2016, UF SJP posted Facebook photos of its activists distributing BDS propaganda on campus.

On March 10, 2016, UF SJP tweeted: “Another BDS victory today! http://fb.me/39fp6JXE0”

On February 15, 2016, UF SJP tweeted: “Congratulations to UIC Divest!!! http://fb.me/5klBauPsr”

On November 17, 2015, UF SJP tweeted in support of musicians boycotting Israel.

On December 3, 2013, UF SJP posted on Facebook against an anti-BDS resolution in the UF student government condemning the BDS movement, that resolved that the UF student senate not support legislation that would further the BDS movement and harm the University of Florida, and instead, encourage the University to continue and build upon its partnership with the State of Israel.

The UF SJP post claimed the anti-BDS bill sought to “stifle free speech.”

SJP

SJP is a student organization engaged in anti-Israel activity on North American college and university campuses.

The first chapter of SJP was founded in 2001 at the University of California at Berkeley by Professor Hatem Bazian. Bazian has spread classic anti-Semitism, reportedly promoted religious anti-Semitism and defended the Hamas terror group. In 2004, Bazian called for “intifada” in America.

SJP organizes anti-Israel campaigns, including running annual Israel Apartheid Weeks, often in collaboration with Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Muslim Students Association (MSA) campus chapters.

SJP has been a major force in pushing the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement on campuses. Chapters have initiated dozens of BDS resolutions in student governments, which have been proposed on or around Jewish holidays, a time when many Jewish students are off-campus.

SJP activists have reportedly physically assaulted, intimidated and harassed Jewish students, disrupted pro-Israel campus events and demonized pro-Israel campus organizations.

Chapters have often endorsed and campaigned for numerous terrorists and whitewashed terrorism.

BDS

The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement was founded by Omar Barghouti in 2005 to challenge “international support for Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism.” BDS is an allegedly “Palestinian-led movement,” although leading BDS activists have admitted [00:01:01] this is not true. 

One of the demands of BDS includes [point 3] what is generally known as the “right of return,” a demand discredited as a way to eliminate Israel. Barghouti said the “right of return” is a means to “end Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.”  

Barghouti has said that BDS “aims to turn Israel into a pariah state, as South Africa once was.”

In his activism, Barghouti has also said [00:05:55] regarding Israel: “Definitely, most definitely, we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine. No…rational Palestinian, not a sellout Palestinian, will ever accept a Jewish state in Palestine.”

The movement has been linked to numerous terrorist organizations and received a public endorsement from Hamas in 2017.

BDS initiatives include calling on institutions and individuals to divest from Israeli-affiliated companies, promoting academic and cultural boycotts of Israel, and organizing anti-Israel rallies, protests and campaigns.

The movement’s most notable achievement has been the infiltration of university campuses through lobbying for “BDS resolutions.” In these cases, student governments and student groups, backed by their own anti-Israel members and affiliates, have proposed resolutions on some form of boycott of, or divestment from, Israel and Israeli-affiliated entities.

Boycott resolutions, although non-binding, have been passed by student governments on numerous North American campuses.

BDS activity is often aggressive and disruptive. It has been noted that universities that pass BDS resolutions see a marked increase in anti-Semitic incidents on campus. On one campus, when the student government debated a BDS resolution, reports emerged of violent threats against those opposing it.

Social Media and Weblinks

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/lara__lee/ [Private]