COURT HALTS DEPORTATION OF U.S. STUDENT

Israel’s Supreme Court on Sunday agreed to hear the appeal of an American graduate student who is fighting expulsion over her involvement in the boycott movement against Israel.

Lara Alqasem has been held in detention since arriving in the country on Oct. 2 with a valid student visa. She will be allowed to remain in the country pending the Supreme Court appeal, scheduled to take place on Wednesday, her lawyer Leora Bechor said.

Alqasem, 22, turned to the high court after a lower court rejected her appeal to remain in Israel on Friday.

“She’s really committed to this,” Bechor said. “She got accepted to the university, and organized her life around studying in Israel. She feels the court is wrong, the government is misinterpreting the law, and she’ll keep fighting.”