Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky

(JTA) — Five members of an interfaith delegation to Israel were prevented from boarding their flight from Washington DC due to their activism on behalf of the BDS movement.

The Jewish Voice for Peace organization said in a statement  Monday that the delegation tried to check into its Lufthansa flight at Dulles International Airport, only to be told that Israeli government had ordered the airline not to let the five passengers board.

Israel’s Knesset in March amended the Law of Entry to prevent leaders of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement from being allowed into Israel. The amendment applies to organizations that take consistent and significant action against Israel through BDS, as well as the leadership and senior activists of those groups.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment on the report.

Three of the activists were from JVP, including a rabbi; the other two members of the delegation prevented from boarding the flight were Rick Ufford Chase, of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship in Rockland County, New York, and Shakeel Syed, a national board member with American Muslims for Palestine in Los Angeles.

The other 18 participants on the Interfaith Network for Justice in Palestine delegation arrived in Israel Monday morning, and were allowed to enter after several hours of detention and questioning, according to JVP.

Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief

You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.

And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.

That’s where you come in. Gifts of any size keep the Forward free and accessible to everyone and ensure we have the resources we need to power the Forward at this critical time for American Jews.

Don't just read the Forward - invest in it. Will you support our work today?

, editor-in-chief

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$120 $180 $360 OTHER AMOUNT