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The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil,    but because of the people who don't do anything about it

Occupation magazine - Activism Home page  back Print  Send To friend Drama on the tarmac - Palestinian professor`s deportation averted at the last moment On Wednesday morning, a private jet chartered by the US government landed in Tel Aviv. On board was Abdelhaleem Ashqar, a Palestinian business professor who ran for the presidency of the Palestinian Authority in 2005. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were attempting to secretly deport him to Israel, which would then transfer him to the West Bank. But contrary to the plan, the aircraft was met by a US embassy official who told the ICE agents on board that they could not hand Ashqar over. Pursuant to an emergency order issued by a federal judge back in Virginia, Ashqar had to remain on the plane in US custody. He would sit on the grounded plane for more than a day while a legal drama unfolded back in the US. This account was provided to The Electronic Intifada by Patrick Taurel, Ashqar’s attorney. Ashqar told Taurel and members of his family what happened, following his return to the United States late Thursday US time. Ashqar’s return capped an extraordinary 72 hours in which ICE deliberately lied to Ashqar and his lawyer before essentially abducting him and putting him on the jet bound for Tel Aviv. It was only the intervention of US District Judge T.S. Ellis III that ensured that Ashqar was brought back to the US after his ordeal. Links to the latest articles in this section Palestinians cry foul over Facebook pro-Israel bias Dr. Hanan Ashrawi: Israel is waging war against everything Palestinian in Jerusalem Administrative Torture: Free Heba al-Labadi, a Jordanian Citizen in Israeli Prison