In a twist of irony, a prominent Jewish Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) activist has been barred from Israel and she is now whining about it.
The activist, Code Pink co-director Ariel Gold, stated on Facebook that she was turned away from Ben-Gurion Airport and sent back to New York. She claimed that she was hoping to immerse herself into Judaic studies, however, according to the Times of Israel, Israeli officials believe that she was only coming to the country to further the BDS cause.
“Whoever acts for a boycott of Israel and comes here to cause damage, will not enter the country,” Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan tweeted.
In an op-ed for The Forward, Gold stood behind her support for BDS “as a nonviolent means to achieve a just and peaceful end to the 70-year-long oppression of Palestinians.”
“At no point during my interrogation in the Ben Gurion airport was I even asked about the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement,” Gold wrote. “I was asked about the organization CODEPINK, of which I am the national co-director, and which endorses BDS, but this was only after they interrogated me about filming soldiers and knowing Palestinians.”
She also accused Israel of only welcoming Jews “who either support occupation and the right-wing settler agenda, or are willing to be quiet.”
According to Canary Mission, Gold has been arrested for participating in violent Palestinian riots and preventing people from entering American Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC)’s conference. Gold also took a photo of herself and another Code Pink member with a #BoycottIsrael banner at the Western Wall.
Gold has also said that she is teaching her children that Zionism is “a racist ideology rooted in ethnic cleansing.”
Back in January, Israel issued a list of 20 BDS organization that were blacklisted from entering Israel. Among those is Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), and Gold is an organizer for them.
