Israel Refuses Entry to Nobel Prize Laureate Mairead Maguire

The British embassy is expected to send a delegate to escort Maguire to the United Kingdom Wednesday.

Irish Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire Photo: IDF

(SPOKANE, Wash.) - Mairead Maguire, Irish Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has been refused entry to Israel. Israeli authorities prevented the Irish Nobel laureate from entering the country upon her arrival at Ben-Gurion International Airport on Tuesday, proceeding to escort Maguire to a U.K.-bound flight.

YNET reports that Maguire resisted her deportation, and that a resulting 'scene' from her refusal to board the flight led to the plane's captain declaring that this noted human rights activist would not be able to board the plane anyway.

Israeli officials decided that Maguire would remain in the country until the next day. She had landed Tuesday morning from Frankfurt. Maguire was part of a women's peace delegation that involves five other women Nobel Peace Prize laureates.

Price of Peace

Israel contends that Maguire was informed after the last flotilla she participated in, that a permanent order was issued banning her from entering Israel. She had been told that she needed to obtain a special permit in advance of her arrival.

American Nobel recipient Judy Williams, who also intended to take part in the same delegation, said "preventing entry to an activist like Maguire was very concerning. People who dedicate their lives to working for peace do not need to be considered a threat to security, she said."

Mairead Maguire had dined with staff from the immigration department of the Interior Ministry in December 2009 after she and others were removed from the Flotilla vessel 'Rachel Corrie' in December 2009, YNET reports.

"Maguire was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976 for her work in bridging between Catholic and Protestant communities in Northern Ireland. About two years ago she strongly criticized Israel and called for its exclusion from the UN, claiming its leadership had for many years ignored decisions by the international community about the conflict with the Palestinians."

The British embassy is expected to send a delegate to escort Maguire to the United Kingdom Wednesday.

Source: ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3961531,00.html