Nobel peace laureate barred from racist rogue israel

Irish Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire, a vocal critic of Israel's Palestinian policy, was denied entry into Israel Tuesday, an attorney said.

She was detained at Ben Gurion International Airport.

Maguire was traveling to Israel and the West Bank with a delegation to learn about Jewish and Arab women working for peace, the Palestinian Ma'an news agency reported. In May, she participated in the Freedom Flotilla, which was intercepted by Israeli commandos on its way to Gaza.

Nine people aboard the flotilla were killed. Maguire was not part of the convoy when it was raided, but was on a final ship associated with the flotilla, Ma'an said. She was taken into custody from that ship and deported permanently from Israel.

The report said Maguire is fighting the deportation with the help of Adalah, a local organization advocating 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 said. "All of her activities [in Israel and Palestine] were done in a peaceful and non-violent form and all of her activities should be protected under the right to express her opinion."

The Interior Ministry said after Maguire was deported following the flotilla incident, a permanent order was issued to prevent her from re-entering, Ynetnews reported. The ministry said Maguire chose to ignore the order and came to Israel without a permit.

Ynetnews said Maguire was being held pending a flight back to her home country.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2010/09/28/Nobel-peace-laureate-barred-from-Israel/UPI-73041285703969/