MONTREAL (JTA) — An Israeli activist who had tried to claim asylum in Canada as a refugee is getting deported back to Israel, Rabble.ca reports, after he exhausted his last court appeal in December.
Gilad Paz, 38, who identifies as part of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, has been living in Montreal since 2016. A self-employed lawyer before leaving Israel who was also active in Amnesty International Israel and the left-wing Meretz Party, Paz claimed he was seeking asylum in Canada because he feared being “politically persecuted” in Israel.
In 2017, Israel passed a law that denies entry into the country for activists who support the BDS movement.
After settling in Montreal, Israel’s then Consul General, Ziv Nevo Kulman, dismissed Paz’s refugee claim as “preposterous.”
Canada’s Border Services Agency is not moving to make him leave immediately, due to travel restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic.
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