The US editor for the Palestinian news agency Maan has returned to the United States yesterday, after spending a week in a detention cell at Ben-Gurion International Airport and being booted out of the country.
The Israeli authorities had questioned him about his "anti-Israeli" views.
Jared Malsin had been detained with his girlfriend after returning from a holiday abroad last Tuesday.
Malsin was questioned, and the interrogator recommended not allowing him into Israel, commenting on his "critical reporting" on events in the territories.
The interrogator also noted, "We believe he used his Jewishness to secure a visa."
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Malsin's girlfriend, a Lutheran church volunteer, was deported to Prague last week.
The case highlights what some nonprofit organizations say is a tightened Israeli policy toward foreign nationals who live or work in the occupied West Bank. It comes amid an intensifying feud over foreign government funding for organizations seen to promote Palestinian interests even as Israeli politicians and nongovernmental organizations try to curb the flow of money from outside.
Jared Malsin has run the English section of the Maan News Agency, based in the West Bank town of Bethlehem for 2 1/2 years, relying on a series of three-month tourist visas to extend his stay without a work permit. A nonprofit organization its supported by grants from the EU, the U.S. and European governments and the United Nations.
The identical technique is used by some foreign employees and volunteers at organizations based in Palestinian areas, who say they face difficulty acquiring work visas from the Israeli government.
Malsin was put on a flight to New York.
"They judged me to have anti-Israeli politics," Malsin, 24, said from a cellphone as he boarded the El Al plane. "It's outrageous that would even appear in a legal argument, that a person's politics would be a relevant issue."
The Interior Ministry claimed Malsin refused to cooperate with his interrogators, even though he knew he could be deported as a result.
The day after his arrest, Malsin and Maan appealed against the deportation, and Tel Aviv District Court Judge Miriam Sokolov canceled the deportation order.
But since he was not allowed into Israel, Malsin remained in the detention cell. His belongings were confiscated.
His attorney, Castro Daoud, told Haaretz yesterday that no date had been set for hearing the appeal.
"The detention center is basically prison conditions," said Daoud. "He was supposed to stay there until his trial, and so he decided to return to the United States."
However, Malsin's deputy at Maan said the journalist didn't have much of a choice. "This was the only option they gave him. He wanted to go home to Bethlehem, but the state wouldn't allow it."
The agency claims Malsin was detained over the leftist views he voiced in his reporting.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement, "Mr. Malsin chose not to await his hearing and flew back this morning."
An official with the Israeli Interior Ministry said Malsin had refused to answer questions about his presence in Israel and had "exploited" the fact that he is Jewish to say he wanted to explore immigrating to Israel.
"He was asked, why would he want to make aliya and become an Israeli citizen, as his opinions are clearly anti-Israeli," Interior Ministry official Mietal Rochman wrote in an account of Malsin's interrogation at the airport, which included a check of numbers stored in his cellphone and a review of his writings on the Internet. "The passenger chose to remain silent." Malsin's attorney provided a copy of Rochman's report.
When asked about whom he planned to stay with and other questions, "he refused to cooperate," said Sabine Haddad, a spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry. "It's the minimal right of the country to ask questions. We don't mind who he is. If he does not want to answer, he should know he could be sent back"
Malsin's girlfriend, Faith Rowold, a U.S. volunteer for a Lutheran Church group in Jerusalem, also was denied entry when the couple arrived last week. She has been sent out of Israel.
Maan, founded five years ago to focus on news from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, publishes in Arabic, English and Hebrew, and it is considered among the more balanced Palestinian news organizations.
Its staff members have access to U.S. Embassy and other diplomatic officials, and its tone -- while highlighting issues such as violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians -- is regarded as more tempered than Web sites or publications affiliated with Palestinian or Islamist political parties.
"There is no incitement. There is no hate in our work," said Raed Othman, Maan's general director. "This is punishment for internationals who come to help the Palestinians."