The incident happened during what was dubbed by the media the
"flytilla" campaign in April 2012 - when hundreds of pro-Palestinian
activists sought to fly to Israel and then make their way to the
occupied West Bank.
Shortly before take-off last April, Ms Ankour, a 30-year-old
nursing student, was asked by an Air France employee whether she had an
Israeli passport or was Jewish.
She answered "No" to both questions, and was then escorted off the plane.
The French court on Thursday concluded this was a clear-cut case of racial discrimination.
In its defence, the French flagship carrier argued that it
was only at the last minute that it had realised Ms Ankour was
blacklisted by Israel.
The company said it had therefore asked her to leave - in
line with an international convention that allowed airlines to refuse
transporting passengers who it knew would not be accepted at the point
of entry.
It seems the fault in law was for the company to have asked
Ms Ankour about her ethnic origins and to have made this the apparent
reason for her forced disembarkation, the BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris
reports.
Well, yeah, they were pretty foolish to ask the question that way. But if an airline transports someone to an international destination point and they are not allowed into the country, guess who has to pay to transport them back to the point of origin? Yup, the airline....
Jordan won't allow 'flytilla' activists to cross into Israel
A group of 'foreign activists' were denied entry from Jordan into Israel by the Jordanian authorities on Sunday. The 'activists' had flown to Amman and hoped to cross into Judea and Samaria. It didn't happen.
"The Welcome to Palestine Campaign decries the Israeli denial of entry via the Allenby Bridge to over 100 internationals who wanted to visit us in the occupied Palestinian Territories," organizers said in a statement.
The group of around 100 activists had finished passport checks at the Jordanian side of the Allenby crossing but were denied entry at the first Israeli checkpoint and told to return to where they had come from, a spokesman for WTP told Ma'an.
No explanation was provided by Israeli crossing authorities as to why the group was denied entry, but the delegation will try to enter the West Bank again on Monday, the spokesman added.
"The denial of entry today at the Allenby Bridge border crossing from Jordan shows that the previous policies of siege and isolation continue," organizers said.
"We thus will continue to initiate more Welcome to Palestine campaigns. We insist on the freedom of entry. As Israel persists in these unjust policies, it is only fair to ask all countries to reciprocate by denying Israelis entry to these countries."
"Two buses carrying 100 activists were not allowed to leave the Jordanian side" of Allenby Bridge Crossing, also known as King Hussein Bridge between the West Bank and Jordan, Walid Atallah, a spokesman for the "Welcome to Palestine" campaign in Jordan, told Agence France Presse.
"The Jordanian authorities stamped their passports and charged them fees and everything was okay. When the buses left, the last checkpoint on the Jordanian side was closed. No reason was given."
Atallah said the "activists left the buses and started to demonstrate near the checkpoint. One of them fainted and was taken to hospital."
"This was deliberate. Jordan did not want Israel to be held responsible for denying the activists entry," he added.
Heh. These people should go back to their home countries and find jobs.
It looks like there may be another 'Palestinian' flytilla on the way at the end of August. But they're flying to Amman and trying to cross the Allenby bridge. This is from a Google translation:
Since Israeli officials have said publicly last April (see video on this site) that we had been blocked because we wanted to go through the Tel Aviv airport to make us in the West Bank, while the passage would have been appropriate, according to them, to pass through Jordan and the Allenby Bridge, so we decided to take their word.
We wish to respond to the invitation of the governor and the mayor of Bethlehem, as well as that of the Palestinian organizations to come and meet with them this summer, a few days to share their lives and prepare them with the new school year, in a context where the education of Palestinian children is made more difficult by the colonization and occupation. Women, men and children from several countries have already responded to this call and present have taken their airfare, via Amman. Do the same! Contact us at contact@bienvenuepalestine.com information if you do not find on this site.
We call on governments to support the Palestinians' right to receive visitors, and the right to their respective nationals to freely visit Palestine.
Palestinians urge us, as participants in the mission Welcome to Palestine in August 2012, asking to pass unhindered through the Allenby Bridge, where it would be difficult for our leaders to invoke any "Israeli sovereignty."
The last two flytillas were such a smash hit that the BDS'ers have decided to hold a third. The date is August 23.
“Welcome to Palestine” organizers announced to organize a wider campaign, late August, in solidarity with the Palestinian people and as a response to the Zionist arrogance against the international activists.
The organizers, about 23 Palestinian institutions and 15 international activists, have agreed, in a meeting held in the “Peace Center” headquarter, to organize a similar campaign on 23rd August, calling thousands of activists around the world to participate it.
One of the flytilla 'activists,' who was held at Ben Gurion Airport before being deported back to his/her home country, left a little artwork on the wall.
A swastika was found drawn on the wall of a holding facility for illegal aliens at Ben Gurion Airport, where several foreign pro-Palestinian activists who arrived in Israel as part of the "Welcome to Palestine" fly-in protest were held.
The activist responsible for the drawing was deported back to his country of origin on Monday. "This was the gift the 'peace activists' left Israel," a source at the Immigration Authority said.
The swastica was discovered by the detention facility employees after two foreign activists – citizens of France and Spain - were removed from the building.
The Immigration Authority said that a photograph of the defiled holding facility wall will be distributed to foreign media by the Foreign Ministry.
If we know who did it, why are we protecting their identity? Let's put a face on this Nazi! The article implies that it's a French or Spanish national. Is that true? If not, what nationality is the person who did it, and why aren't we protesting to their government?
It's nice to show this to the foreign media, but we also should be telling them who did it. Every time an Israeli allegedly commits a crime abroad, it's all over the international media. Why not put the shoe on the other foot when we can?
Foreign Ministry official claims 40% of those on flytilla list were not pro-'Palestinian' 'activists'
An anonymous (is there any other kind?) source in the Foreign Ministry has told Haaretz that 470 of the 1,200 or so blacklisted flytilla 'activists' had 'no connection' to the flytilla.
"We put people on the list who are as far removed from anti-Israel political activity as east is from west," one Foreign Ministry official said. "We have insulted hundreds of foreign citizens because of suspicions, and have given the other side a victory on a silver platter."
"Direct damage has been done to tourism and to Israel's good name," the official said.
Organizers said on Sunday that their "Welcome to Palestine" protest, in which hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists were planning to participate in demonstrations in the West Bank, was a success that still advanced the Palestinian narrative even though many of the protesters were forced to stay home.
"It doesn't matter if eight people came or 800," said Lubna Masarwa, one of the organizers of the event. "What's clear is that there is a popular struggle that is gaining momentum and has the international support of thousands of activists. The Palestinians are not alone in their struggle."
Did anyone actually notice the flytilla outside of Israel and the blogs which discuss it? I searched in vain on Sunday for online video of flytilla-connected protests. For most of the day, all that was up was one al-Jazeera report. Did your local media cover it? Or were you looking to me and other pro-Israeli bloggers for coverage?
But what makes me more skeptical about this story is reporter Barak Ravid's discussion of specific persons who were caught up in the net:
The list of banned passengers was inflated over the weekend in what one Foreign Ministry official called "overexertion."
"The net was spread too wide, bringing down innocent people," he said.
That net did not spare holders of diplomatic passports, like a French diplomat and his wife who are due to begin working at the French consulate in Jerusalem this summer. The couple was planning to look for an apartment in Jerusalem, but the night before their flight they received an e-mail from their airline, Lufthansa, saying their tickets were canceled because they had been banned from entering Israel.
"The Population Registry people told us their flight route was suspicious because they were coming in on a connecting flight from Munich, not direct from Paris," said a Foreign Ministry official. "Only after we explained that the ticket from Munich was bought because it was cheaper did they take them off the list."
...
Other passengers who appeared on the blacklist despite having no connection to the protest include an employee of Italy's Communications Ministry who was supposed to meet with her Israeli counterparts here, and a Dutch member of the board of directors of German pharmaceutical giant Merck, who was part of a company delegation taking part in the dedication of a biotechnology hothouse at the Weizmann Institute of Science, in which Merck is investing 10 million euros.
Both were eventually allowed into the country.
Obviously, there was a way to get off the blacklist if you weren't supposed to be on it. And obviously, people who felt that they had valid grounds to explain their actions, were able to explain them and were able to travel.
I would say that 470 was way over-inflated. And I would say that the actual number of people who were wrongfully banned was actually quite small and that someone at the foreign ministry - a known bastion of Leftists - has an interest in trying to make the government look bad. In fact, for those who read Hebrew, that foreign ministry employee sounds remarkably like former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, doesn't s/he?
However, Israel failed to prevent the entry of all of the activists. A French activist who arrived at Bethlehem via the Ben Gurion Airport took part in a press conference and revealed that two others had also escaped airport scrutiny and arrived at the city.
Thus far, 48 activists landed in Israel, the majority of which were transferred to the Givon prison. Nine activists were sent back to their countries of origin, three await departure and two are being held in a special facility.
The French activist said that 50 activists from Lyon, France were planning to board a flight to Israel, but that nearly half were denied boarding. She said 29 succeeded in boarding the flight.
She said that having arrived at the Ben Gurion Airport she was shifted around and eventually "found herself outside the airport."
During the press conference, the fly-in's organizers said that 400 French activists, 100 Belgian activists and others were not allowed to board flights to Israel.
They responded to the Israeli government's "welcome letter" and said that a democracy does not deport people back to their countries. "The Israeli authorities have exposed their true face, " they said.
The organizers also noted that they will not be cancelling their activities in the West Bank and noted that there are 20 pro-Palestinian activists in Bethlehem, most of whom were not part of the "flytilla."
Every country has the right to determine who gets in and who does not.
Video: Anti-Israel 'activists' hold up 'Welcome to Palestine' signs
In what may be the only foul-up of the day, two (apparently Israeli) anti-Israel 'activists' hold up signs saying 'Welcome to Palestine' at Ben Gurion Airport. They are quickly hustled out, and someone (seemingly the guy with the short, light brown hair and small black kipa) yells at them in Hebrew "Go to Syria. What are you looking for here? This is the only democracy in the region."
Minister of the Environment Gilad Erdan told Israel Radio's mid-day news magazine on Sunday that the 'flytilla' is not innocent, and that Amna Mona, who was released and deported to Turkey as part of the Gilad Shalit 'exchange,' was scheduled to arrive in Israel as part of the 'flytilla.'
I discussed Mona and her deportation to Turkey here and here. She was imprisoned in Israel for luring a 16-year old Israeli boy (Ophir Rahum) to his death over the internet.
Israel Radio reports that nine pro-'Palestinian' 'activists' were detained for questioning at Ben Gurion Airport. Five were allowed to enter, four were detained; one is still being questioned. There are protests at the airports in Paris and Brussels, but the airlines are not letting the 'activists' board flights for Israel. Here's a report from YNet that is not quite as current as Israel Radio's 11:00 report.
Four people who arrived aboard an El Al flight from Paris Sunday morning, as well as another who arrived a Jordanian plane were questioned at a booth set up by the Interior Ministry at BG Airport. Three of them were allowed to enter the country, while the other two passengers - from the US and Portugal - were deported.
...
Knesset Member Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) and right-wing activists Itamar Ben-Gvir and Baruch Marzel also arrived at BG Airport with an Israeli flag ahead of the expected arrival of more pro-Palestinian activists.
I caught the end of an interview with one of those three (I didn't catch which one) on Sunday morning. They said that the government shouldn't just be deporting these people - they should be arresting and charging them with membership in a terror organization and let them rot in jail for a while Unfortunately, that's unlikely to happen.
Police detained four pro-Palestinian activists who flew to Israel as part of the "flytilla" protest early on Sunday morning. The activists arrived in Israel from Paris.
...
The Foreign Ministry has over the past few weeks been in discussions with its counterparts in capitals around the world, explaining Israel’s position regarding the fly-in and making clear that those coming to engage in provocative actions would not be given an entry visa.
Israeli authorities circulated to the airlines the names of some 1,200 pro-Palestinian activists expected to participate, in the hope that the companies would prevent them from boarding.
One official explained that if someone flies into a country without the necessary visa or is not given that visa when he or she lands, the responsibility – and expense – for flying the person back falls on the airline.
Already on Wednesday, Amnon Shmueli, who heads the Immigration Authority at Ben- Gurion Airport, sent a letter to all airlines with a list of names of the people it believed were planning on participating in flytilla, according to a document posted on its website.
The document said, “Due to statements of pro-Palestinian radicals to arrive on commercial flights from abroad to disrupt order and confront security forces at friction points, it was decided to deny their entry.”
“Attached is a list of passengers that are denied entry to Israel. In light of the above mentioned, you are ordered not board them on your flights,” the letter states.
“Failure to comply with this directive will result in sanctions against the airlines.”
According to the website, already as early as Tuesday a foreign visitor from Sweden who entered Israel from Eilat was asked to sign a pledge not to be a member of a pro-Palestinian organization, not to be in contact with any pro-Palestinian organizations and not to participate in pro-Palestinian activities.
Aharonovitch confirmed Saturday night that Israel had asked airlines not to board fly-in passengers.
“They acted pretty much accordingly,” he said.
Those identified by Israel as provocateurs who manage to circumvent the no-fly lists and land in Israel will be “isolated from the central airport,” Aharonovitch said.
Activists who get past all of Israel’s measures “will be arrested if they cause disturbances,” he added.
It sounds like Flytilla 2 will be as big a flop as Flytilla 1. Heh.
Heh.... 'Activists' protest at Paris DeGaulle against 'exclusion' from Israel
All is quiet at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport at this hour, but 'dozens' of 'activists' are protesting at Paris DeGaulle Airport against their 'exclusion' from Israel.
As hundreds of police officers are deployed at Ben Gurion Airport in order to prevent the entry of the "flytilla to Palestine" activists to Israel, in Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport's departures hall dozens of activists gathered on Sunday to protest their "exclusion" from Israel.
Some of the activists received notices alerting them to the fact that their flights to Israel had been cancelled while others managed to issue their boarding cards but are not sure they will be able to reach the Palestinian Authority. During the protest they called out: "Today the barrier is here" and "Israel get out, France is not yours."
The activists sought to make it clear that they were not operating against Israel, rather they were seeking to carry out a "pacifist action" and go to Bethlehem to see the situation with their own eyes.
Every country has the right to control entry into its borders. Let them fly directly to Bethlehem if that's what they want... without going through our airspace. Heh.
Foreign Ministry sends tongue in cheek letter to 'flytilla' activists
If any 'flytilla' activists happen to make it into Israel on Sunday, they will receive the letter below from the Foreign Ministry (Hat Tip: Ofir Gendelman via Twitter). Of course, the letter has been posted on the internet because no 'flytilla activists' are going to get into Israel.
Lufthansa, Air France and British low-cost carrier Jet2.com have canceled tickets issued to 'flytilla' 'activists' who appeared on a list sent to them by Israel indicating that they would not be allowed to disembark. Of course, al-Guardian is reporting the story as Israel 'forcing' the airlines to cancel the tickets, but the airlines could bring the 'activists' if the airlines were to pay a fine and transport them back. Obviously, the airlines have decided that they have better ways than that to increase shareholder returns.
Israel has forced low-cost airline Jet2.com to cancel the tickets of three women from Manchester intending to travel to Bethlehem via Tel Aviv this weekend for a gathering of pro-Palestinian activists.
Jet2.com informed the women by email that the airline would refuse to carry them and no refund would be paid. The move follows pressure on airlines from Israel to ban known activists.
One of the women, retired nurse Norma Turner, said Jet2.com had caved in to pressure. "It never crossed my mind that Israel could stop people with British passports leaving British airports," she told the Guardian.
...
Jet2.com's decision followed a similar move by the German carrier Lufthansa, which cancelled the tickets of dozens of activists on Thursday, saying it was complying with Israel's demand not to fly certain passengers to Tel Aviv. Other airlines are expected to follow suit.
In an email sent to the three women, Jet2.com said it had been obliged to provide the Israeli authorities passengers' names, dates of birth, passport numbers and nationalities.
"As a result of providing that information, Jet2.com has been informed by the Israeli authorities that you will not be not permitted to enter Israel. Consequently, if Jet2.com carries you to Israel, you will be refused entry and Jet2.com will be liable for both a fine and your return to Manchester," the email said.
"We regret that, in light of the decision taken by the Israeli authorities, we are unable to accept you for carriage to Israel on this occasion and your booking with Jet2.com has been cancelled."
The airline apologised and said the cancellation was "totally beyond our control" but said the passengers would not be reimbursed.
...
Turner said she would seek legal advice on Jet2.com's move. "I think the airline should honour its commitment. We had checked in, and we have our boarding passes.
"Every country has the right to control its own borders. But to stop us leaving British shores just shows the extent of Israel's power and influence."
Hey - Israel didn't force Jet2 not to refund their money. But you really cannot blame the airline for refusing to incur a fine to bring these nutjobs here.
On Thursday, Lufthansa canceled 'dozens' of tickets.
Lufthansa German Airlines canceled the tickets of dozens of passengers, #Airflotilla2 website reported Friday.
The pro-Palestinian website uploaded a scanned image of one of the canceled tickets that a passenger had received, and reported that the same notification had been sent to dozens of activists on Thursday, informing them that their reservation had been canceled "by order of Israel."
#Airflotilla2 is an online campaign supporting “Welcome to Palestine 2012,” the umbrella organization overseeing the initiative.
According to the campaign organizers, Lufthansa informed the passengers that "Israel produced a list of names of persons to whom this country denies entry," and that their names were on the list. Campaigners said that those who had received the notifications would show up at their respective airports as scheduled to board flights to Tel Aviv.
The Germans know how to deal with that stuff. Heh.
And then there's Air France, which notified Canadian 'activist' Julie LaChapelle that she would not be allowed to board a flight to Israel.
Air France probably has some more we don't know about yet. They had hundreds last year (as did Malev, which has since gone bankrupt).
This Sunday is one of the busiest travel days of the year at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport. It's the day after Passover (Passover for Israelis actually ends on Friday, but the country's national airline doesn't fly on the Sabbath, and the airport runs a very limited Saturday schedule, so de facto, Sunday will be one of the busiest travel days of the year).
Pro-'Palestinian' 'activists' have chosen Sunday for Flytilla 2, an event that crash landed last year after hundreds of Europeans were denied boarding by airports around Europe. According to Israel Television, the 'activists' believe that this year they will be allowed to board because last year the airlines had to pay them compensation (it's not clear to me whether that was any more than a refund of the ticket prices). But this article from YNet makes it sound like they're afraid that Israel is going to foil them again.
Israel vowed Tuesday to prevent the entry of hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists from Europe and North America expected to arrive in the country this weekend, calling them provocateurs who are intent on disturbing public order.
The activists are set to board flights to Israel with the aim of participating in demonstrations against Israeli policy in the West Bank. Although organizers say all protests will be peaceful, Israeli officials said the activists would be deported.
“The provocateurs will be dealt with in a determined and quick way,” said Israel’s public security minister, Yitzhak Aharonovitch.
“If they arrive in Israel they will be identified, removed from the plane, their entry into Israel will be prevented and they will be moved to a detention facility until they are flown out of Israel.”
Read the whole thing. The 'activists' claim they have a 'right' to enter 'Palestine,' but 'Palestine' doesn't exist and they're asking to land in Israel's national airport and will have to pass through Israeli passport control if they make it here. Every country has the right to decide who is permitted to enter and who is not. That's why France warned its citizens (many of whom were among those denied boarding last year) last week not to participate in the flytilla.
Last year, the airlines abandoned 'activists' who were arrested by Israel. They came in July, at the height of the tourist season, and the airlines refused to bump paying passengers to let the 'activists' out of jail to return home. About 50 'activists' managed to slip through passport control, which was far fewer than the number who spent time in Israeli jails, and far, far fewer than the numbers denied boarding in Europe.
Last week, I reported on a second 'flytilla' being planned by 'Palestinian' terror supporters for the week after Passover. Surprisingly, France is warning its citizens to stay away from the flytilla.
France urged pro-Palestinian activists, who plan to visit Bethlehem this month in solidarity for residents of the occupied West Bank, to avoid joining the operation given there was a high risk of being detained or turned back by Israeli authorities.
About 1,200 Palestinian supporters throughout Europe have bought plane tickets for the visit on April 15 to help open an international school and a museum at the request of a local organization called "Welcome to Palestine".
A similar, though smaller, operation last year led to a few hundred activists being blocked at European airports.
Deputy Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said on Monday that while Paris wanted foreigners to travel freely to the West Bank, Israel had made it clear it would not allow anybody who threatened public order to enter the country.
"France is concerned by the risk of incidents ... as part of 'Welcome to Palestine' operation" he said. "For this reason, we advise our citizens to not take part in this initiative given the risk of being turned away or being detained."
I don't recall France being this concerned about the 'flytilla' last year. Maybe a little dose of terrorism has at least awakened France from its slumber and naiveite.
***
I did not fall asleep in front of the computer this time (for a change!), although I am fighting it off once again. I had a lot of work tonight, which I will not be able to finish until tomorrow. That's why you're seeing gaps of several hours in posting.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
