ISRAEL: Nobel Peace Laureate Denied Entry to Israel

Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire was denied entry to Israel on Tuesday morning and detained at the country's Ben Gurion International Airport.

Maguire, an Irish peace activist and a co-founder of the Nobel Women's Initiative, was traveling to Israel and the West Bank with a delegation to learn about the efforts of Jewish and Arab women working for peace and co-existence.

"Dedicating your life to peace should not be a threat to national security," one of the six founders of the Nobel Women's Initiative, Jody Williams, said as she prepared to board a flight to Tel Aviv in the wake of the detention.

Maguire began the fight against deportation immediately, with the help of Adalah, a local NGO that advocates for the rights of Israel's Palestinian citizens.

"We believe that the decision to refuse entry to Ms. Maguire is based on illegitimate, irrelevant, and arbitrary political considerations," Adalah attorney Fatmeh El-Ajou commented.

"All of her activities [in Israel and Palestine] were done in a peaceful and nonviolent form and all of her activities should be protected under the right to express her opinion," El-Ajou added.

Maguire has been a vocal critic of Israeli policy towards the Palestinians, including the siege on Gaza. In May, she participated in the Freedom Flotilla, a convoy of aid ships that set out to bring aid to the besieged Gaza Strip. Israeli commandos intercepted the boats in international waters. The Israeli raid lead to the deaths of nine internationals and sparked international outcry. It remains the focus of a pannel of inquiry mandated by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

After she was detained from the Rachel Corrie, the final ship in the Gaza Flotilla which sailed for Gaza in the days following the deadly flotilla raid and was peacefully boarded and seized by the Israeli army, Maguire, along with other activists, was deported to her home country.

Deportation from Israel often results in a 10-year ban from returning to the state.

According to El-Ajou, Maguire was so concerned that her repatriation in the wake of the flotilla incident might prevent her from returning to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories that she contacted Israeli authorities after she'd arrived Ireland in June.

Maguire told El-Ajou that officials had indicated she would not be barred from entering the country in the future.

When she arrived in Israel on Tuesday with a fellow flotilla participant, her colleague was permitted to enter Israel. But the Israeli authorities told Maguire that she was denied entry because of her participation in the flotilla.

Sabine Haddad, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Interior commented to The Huffington Post, "A few months ago [Maguire] was on the Rachel Corrie [a ship on the Freedom Flotilla]. After that she was deported. So she knows that she can't come to Israel. She says that she [checked] with the embassy before but she didn't do that."

Asked if Maguire's detainment was politically motivated or related to her support of the Palestinians, Haddad said no.

"She's not special, ok?" Haddad added. "She has to go by the law in Israel."

Referring to the state's position that Maguire was denied entry on the basis of her participation with the Freedom Flotilla, El-Ajou remarked, "This is the excuse."

What does detaining a Nobel Peace Prize winner say about the state of the Israeli government? Is it a strike against free speech? Is it punishment for supporting the Palestinians?

"It's both," El-Ajou responded, adding that Maguire was singled out because of her "commitment to alleviating the suffering of the people of Gaza and because of her wide activities seeking peace and justice."

Other prominent figures critical of Israeli policy towards the Palestinians have also been denied entry to the country. In May, Noam Chomsky was barred from entering. In 2008, Professor Richard Falk, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian Territories, was detained as he attempted to enter Israel and was subsequently deported.

Maguire's detainment comes just two days after the end of the settlement freeze, which endangers fledgling peace talks. Construction resumes. A Nobel Laureate is detained. Both moves cast doubt upon Israel's commitment to peace.