Lebanon denies Kuwaiti journalist entry for visiting 'Israel'

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Al Mayadeen
8 Jun 2023 16:19
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In a tweet, the Kuwaiti journalist claimed that the Lebanese authorities had blacklisted her because of her political stance.

Kuwaiti broadcaster Fajr Al-Saeed (social media)

Today, Kuwaiti broadcaster Fajr Al-Saeed announced that she was denied entry to Lebanon, revealing in a tweet on her Twitter account that she was interrogated yesterday evening at the Beirut International Airport by the Lebanese General Security for about 5 hours.

In her tweet, she claimed that the Lebanese authorities had blacklisted her because of her political stance.

انا في مطار بيروت صارلي خمس ساعات ما ادري سبب وجودي الحين قالولي عليج منع دخول تام وابدي ... شكراً لبنان #فجر_السعيد
— فجر السعيد 🇰🇼 (@AlsaeedFajer) June 7, 2023

The Kuwaiti broadcaster, who has repeatedly declared her love for "Israel", did not explain the reason for her denied entry, pointing out that she was waiting for a plane to return to Kuwait.

Al-Saeed had been released from detention after coordinating between the Kuwaiti embassy's charge d'affaires and the Lebanese General Security authorities: she was then sent to the departure hall where she waited for her plane back home.

Whoever follows closely Al-Saeed's statements in the past two years will notice that she has a history of praising the Israeli occupation. In 2018, she revealed that she had visited the occupied Palestinian territories, tweeting: "I prayed at Al-Aqsa Mosque and prayed at the Dome of the Rock, praise be to God, and without war" and adding that the Israeli settlers were very hospitable.

Additionally, Al-Saeed has not hesitated to celebrate her friendship with the Israeli propagandist Eddie Cohen with whom she recurrently shares her greetings and admiration over Twitter.

More so, she was even interviewed by "Israel in Arabic", the Israeli occupation's official Arab speaking platform on Twitter, during which she called for “peace with Israel,” saying that she “changed her view” of “Israel” more than 20 years ago.

In this context, the head of the National Society for Resisting Normalization and a member of the campaign to boycott supporters of "Israel" in Lebanon, Abdelmalik Sukkariyeh, said in a statement to the "Al-Ahed" news website, that "the behavior of the state and the concerned agencies with the Fajr al-Saeed will apply to every person who has entered the occupied territories and has an Israeli stamp on their passport, whatever their status might be."

Sukkarieh confirmed that "Lebanese law prevents entry to anyone who has traveled to the occupied Palestinian territories," stressing that "it is not the first case, and it will not be the last."