Israel prevents Palestinian student from traveling to continue his studies, tried to recruit him to be collaborator

Ma'an – Israeli authorities on Tuesday prevented a Palestinian student from exiting the West Bank at the Allenby Bridge, as he was en route to Cyprus to continue his studies, the young man said.

The Ramallah resident said it was the second time he had tried to cross the bridge and return to the Near East University in Cyprus, and the second time he was denied permission to cross out of the West Bank.

Not permitted to travel out of the Tel Aviv or the now-defunct Gaza airports, Ala Idreis said he was on his way to the Queen Aliya International Airport in Amman.

Idreis said he had completed two our of three years at the Cyprus university for a degree in finance, and returned home to Ramallah partway through the semester. "I had family problems to deal with," he explained.

When he attempted to return to Cyprus via the bridge on 2 August, Idreis said he was refused and taken to an interrogation room where he was asked to become a collaborator.

The young man said he refused and returned home to his family. Three weeks later he attempted the crossing again but was denied a second time. He told Ma'an he was concerned that he would lose his place at the university if he did not return in time for registration, and was in the process of appealing to the Palestinian civil affairs department to get an explanation as to why he was being refused permission to travel.