Cairo: Lebanese authorities have barred prominent Egyptian academic Saad Al Deen Ebrahim and sent him back to Cairo as he had given a lecture in Israel earlier this year, Egyptian security sources said.
“Ebrahim was deported aboard an EgyptAir flight from Beirut,” one source said.
Ebrahim, a sociology professor who is also a US citizen, was to give a lecture at the American University in Beirut on the future of the so-called Arab Spring revolts.
“Following his arrival in Beirut on Thursday, the Lebanese authorities refused to let him enter the country in accordance with Lebanese law because of the lecture he gave at the Tel Aviv University,” the source added on condition of anonymity.
Lebanon does not have diplomatic links with Israel and bans any dealing with it.
Ebrahim confirmed he was banned from entering Lebanon, but said his wife, who was accompanying him, was allowed into the country.
“I was denied entry because my passport has an Israeli visa,” he said late Friday. “This situation will not change unless Lebanon and Israel get reconciled,” Ebrahim told private Egyptian television Al Qahera Wal Nas. “This is a strong possibility as [US] President Donald Trump seeks to make peace between Arabs and Israel.”
Ebrahim is a noted advocate of peace between Arabs and Israel.
In January, the 79-year-old academic gave a lecture on Egyptian-Israeli relations at the Tel Aviv University, a visit that triggered anger in his homeland.
At the time, Egyptian lawmaker Atef Abdul Jawad demanded Ebrahim be stripped of his Egyptian nationality.
In 1979, Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty. Both countries have since maintained diplomatic relations. However, their ties have often been frosty. The Egyptian parliament and professional unions ban their members from visiting Israel or contacting Israelis.
In 2016, the Egyptian legislature revoked the membership of Tawfik Okasha after he had met the Israeli ambassador in Cairo.
