Israeli authorities detained British journalist Secunder Kermani at Ben-Gurion Airport
Israel detains British journalist, bars entry of German correspondent
Israeli authorities detained British journalist Secunder Kermani at Ben-Gurion Airport early Monday, and initially denied him entry to Israel after he landed in the country to cover the upcoming election.Kermani – an award-winning foreign affairs correspondent for Britain’s Channel 4 News who has extensively covered Israel, the West Bank and Gaza – received a notice upon arrival saying he would not be allowed in, and was taken to a detention facility at the airport.According to Kermani, border control officials asked whether he believed Israel was committing genocide in Gaza and whether he considered Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist organizations.He was eventually allowed to enter Israel, after Channel 4 contacted Israeli diplomats. “Is this a new government policy to only allow certain journalists into the country?” he queried in a WhatsApp group that includes foreign journalists and Israeli officials.He later wrote on X he was worried other journalists trying to enter Israel had recently encountered similar problems. The Foreign Press Association said it was aware of similar cases in the past year, and that “there is evidence to suggest” reporters were denied entry or deported “on the basis that their reporting was deemed to be unfavorable toward Israel.”For its part, Israel has acknowledged considering foreign journalists’ previous coverage when determining whether to allow them into the country. On Sunday, it denied a work visa to a correspondent for the German newspaper taz, alleging that she called for a boycott of Israel.Serena Bilanceri, who reports on Israel, the West Bank and the wider Middle East, was seeking a visa to serve as the newspaper’s permanent correspondent in Israel. The Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Ministry said that its director-general had recommended barring Bilanceri from entering the country under a 2025 amendment to the Entry into Israel Law.The ministry, whose authority to intervene in the visa application process is unclear, cited two opinion articles Bilanceri penned in September and November 2025, in which she called for economic and military sanctions against Israel over its conduct in the West Bank and Gaza.In a statement, the ministry accused Bilanceri of promoting “anti-Israel” messages and describing Israel as an “apartheid state,” arguing that her calls for sanctions met the legal criteria for denying her entry and residency, and that “we will not tolerate calls for a boycott of Israel under the guise of professional journalism.”Bilanceri rejected the ministry’s characterization of her writing, saying she never advocated for a boycott of Israel, but for “financial and military sanctions in response to the actions of the Israeli government in the West Bank, particularly in the face of settler violence, and the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip at the time.”Taz’s editors-in-chief also said Bilanceri had never called for a boycott of Israel and accused the government of using legitimate criticism of its actions in the West Bank and Gaza as grounds to restrict press freedom.According to the newspaper, Bilanceri was not given an explanation for the decision, and had encountered difficulties entering and leaving Israel in the past. Last year, her laptop was confiscated, ostensibly for explosives testing, and was returned to her destroyed.
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Prof. Engr. Zamir Ahmed Awan Founder & Chair, Global Silk Route Research Alliance
Zamir Ahmed Awan is the founder and Chair of the Global Silk Route Research Alliance, a think tank in Islamabad. He studied engineering at Shanghai University in the 1980s, and years later he went back to China as Pakistan's science counsellor in Beijing, from 2010 until 2016, working on science and higher education cooperation between the two countries.…
