Founder of BDS Movement Denied Entry Into U.S.

Omar Barghouti, the founder of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, has been barred from entering the United States.

According to National Public Radio (NPR), Barghouti, who lives in Israel, was set to fly out of Ben Gurion International Airport on April 10 to embark on an East Coast speaking tour when he was told at the airport that the United States would not let him enter the country. He was not given a reason why; a State Department official told NPR, “We cannot discuss the details of individual visa cases.”

James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, told NPR, “It is disturbing that policymakers and the American people will not have the opportunity to hear from Omar directly about his views.”

NPR also notes that the Israeli government held off on renewing Barghouti’s travel documents over the past few years due to him “using his resident status to travel all over the world in order to operate against Israel in the most serious manner.” The Israeli government eventually renewed his travel document in February.

According to Canary Mission, Barghouti said during a 2010 talk in San Diego that Palestinians “have a right to resist by any means, including violent means.” He similarly said during a 2014 speech in UCLA that the Palestininas can pursue “‘resistance by any means, including armed resistance.’” In a 2014 speech at Wayne State University, Barghouti accused Congress of being “bought and paid for by the Israel lobby.” In a 2013 Norway speech, Barghouti said, “We oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine. No Palestinian, rational Palestinian, not a sell-out Palestinian, will ever accept a Jewish state in Palestine.”

Barghouti also co-founded the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC) in 2007, which has reported ties to the terror groups Hamas and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).