When Lara Alqasem was refused entry to Israel because of her connections to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, and she remained in detention for two weeks because of her refusal to leave, the refrain from critics of the decision was: This is undemocratic.

In the end, the Alqasem saga showed just how democratic Israel really is. Over the past two weeks, there have been a number of groups advocating against the decision to keep Alqasem out. The extremists said that keeping the former president of the University of Florida’s Students for Justice in Palestine out of Israel is fascist and McCarthyite.

There were more moderate critics, including vocal Israel supporters, who said that, while all countries have the right to determine who enters their borders, liberal democracies should not be afraid of criticism, no matter how extreme, as long as there isn’t a clear security risk. Israel shouldn’t be engaging in punishing crimes that haven’t been committed yet, à la Minority Report.

And then there are those who support the law to keep leading Israel boycott advocates out of the country, but said that Alqasem – a leader of an SJP chapter whose members could be counted on her fingers – who has now decided to study in Israel rather than boycott it, does not meet the standard of BDS leadership set in the vaguely worded law.

Read the full article at the Jerusalem Post.