BICOM

Israel Police decided to decrease its security presence at Ben-Gurion airport yesterday evening, stating that it no longer expects a mass fly-in of pro-Palestinian activists to Israel because the majority of participants had been stopped abroad. The bulk of activists are expected to arrive in Israel Friday afternoon, but police believe that most of them have already been prevented from departing airports abroad, after the Transportation Ministry handed foreign airlines a list of 300 people who have been blacklisted by Israel.

In total around 180 activists were prevented from departing from European airports as a result of the “black list” which the Interior Ministry had sent to local authorities throughout Europe yesterday. The list detailed the names of activists that may potentially attempt to cause provocations. The Interior Ministry had informed foreign airlines they were required under Israeli law to remove “pro-Palestinian radicals” from flights bound for Israel.

Already on Thursday, Malev Hungarian Airlines banned around 20 activists from boarding a flight from Paris to Budapest on the first leg of their journey to Tel Aviv, according to French activists involved in the “Welcome to Palestine” event on Friday. The letter from the Interior Ministry to the airlines, provided to The Jerusalem Post by the activists, said that “due to statements of pro-Palestinian radicals to arrive on commercial flights from abroad to disrupt the order and confront security forces at friction points, it was decided to refuse their entry in accordance with our authority according to the Law of Entry to Israel 1952… In light of the above-mentioned, you are required not to board them on your flights to Israel. Failure to comply with this directive would result in a delay on the flight and their return on the same flight.”

The letter was signed by Amnon Shmueli, the chief of the Immigration Authority in the Interior Ministry.