Press Releases 

The Ariel students wanted to hear Obama - but Ariel is not in Israel...


It seems the students from the "university" in Ariel very much wanted to hear the speech of US President Obama, which is nice. They held a publicized protest at not being invited. Their representative asked "Why are students from Israel boycotted?".

However, this is exactly the problem. Students from all the universities in Israel were invited to hear Obama's speech. But the students from Ariel are not students from Israel, since the settlement of Ariel just is not located in Israel.

Not only under International Law Even but even under Israel’s own law, the recognized international boundary of Israel passes between Kfar Saba and Qalqiliya, and anyone crossing this Green Line east wards is leaving the territory of the State of Israel - just like anyone boarding a plane at Tel-Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport.

Irresponsible politicians can assert that "there is a consensus on Ariel belonging to Israel." There is no such consensus in Israeli society, and the an opposite consensus in the international community - all countries, including the United States, regard Ariel as a settlement illegally built in Occupied Territory.

Anyone who goes to live or study at an armed enclave in the midst of an Occupied Territory must be ready to pay a price for it – and missing a Presidential speech might be the least price to pay.