Court rejects Nobel laureate's appeal against deportation

Irish Nobel Peace Prize recipient Mairead Maguire banned from entering country because of participation in flotilla; High Court appeal next.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS, JPOST.COM STAFF
Rachel Corrie 311 (photo credit: IDF)
Rachel Corrie 311
(photo credit: IDF)
JERUSALEM — The Petah Tikva District Court on Friday rejected an Irish Nobel Peace Prize laureate's appeal against her deportation orders over entering Israel while being banned from the country.
Mairead Corrigan Maguire was detained at an airport lockup earlier this week for violating the conditions of her ban imposed in June, when she tried to reach Gaza aboard a blockade-busting ship.
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At the time, Maguire was told she could not return for 10 years except with special approval.
The district court rejected her appeal Friday but gave her 48 hours to allow time for a High Court appeal.
The 66-year-old Maguire is an outspoken champion of Palestinian statehood. Israel has banned other pro-Palestinian activists from entering, including Jewish-American linguist Noam Chomsky in May.   
Maguire was deported from Israel in June after she participated in the Rachel Corrie flotilla.  According to the Interior Ministry, she was told that in order to enter Israel in the future, she would need to obtain a special permit in advance, which on this occasion she did not.
A lawyer for Maguire confirmed that his client was detained at an airport lockup after landing early Tuesday in Tel Aviv. She was part of a human rights delegation visiting Israel and the West Bank.
According to attorney Fatmeh el-Ajou, the government said Maguire was banned from entering the country because of her participation in the June flotilla.