The Israeli authorities blocked the entry of 80 foreign solidarity activists, who were supposed to visit the West Bank in solidarity with the Palestinian people, on Monday.
A spokesperson for the Israeli police said that 78 solidarity activists were detained at Ben Gurion airport including 51 French nationals, 11 Britons, six Italians, five Canadians, two Spaniards, and one from each of the USA, Switzerland, and Portugal.
She said that 18 voluntarily returned to their places of departure while the others were taken to two detention centers in preparation for their forced deportation.
Many of 1500 foreign solidarity activists, who were planning to fly into Israel en route to the West Bank, were barred from boarding their planes after western airlines bowed to Israeli pressures and refused to allow them to fly to Ben Gurion airport to attend the “Welcome to Palestine” event.
