Israel deports Scottish businesswoman over Hamas accusations

Airport detention

Yasmina Ferrigan, the business manager of Edinburgh-based Hadeel store, was detained at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport on Friday after arriving to visit Palestinian trade partners, according to media reports. The South African-born activist, who has lived in Scotland for 25 years, said she was held in an immigration detention center for at least five hours before being deported. Ferrigan had traveled to the occupied territories to meet producers who supply Fairtrade goods to her employer and to establish new supply networks.

Interrogation and threats

"I was detained and I was held in a detention center in immigration for five hours at least, and it was the worst, most vile experience ever," Ferrigan told Scottish daily The National. "They have no respect for human life. They have no respect for dignity. They accused me of being a Hamas supporter and a Hamas terrorist, and they accused me of being a Palestine Action member," she said. Ferrigan added that interrogators told her she should have been arrested long ago and that "I should not exist, I should be eliminated, and that they are watching me."

Trade mission blocked

The businesswoman said Israeli authorities knew she was traveling on behalf of Hadeel to trade with Palestinian communities in occupied territories. "It's a systematic breakdown and crippling of the Palestinian economy. They knew full well I was going as a Hadeel employee, as well as going for trade with Palestinian communities in occupied territories, and they still did not want to let me in," she said.