US authorities on Monday said they had deported a doctor to Lebanon last week after discovering “sympathetic photos and videos” of the former long-time leader of Hezbollah and militants on her mobile phone.
Rasha Alawieh also told agents that while in Lebanon last month, she attended the funeral of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who she supported from a “religious perspective” as a Shiite Muslim, according to a transcript of an airport interview seen by Reuters.
The US Department of Justice provided those details as it sought to assure a federal judge in Boston that Customs and Border Protection did not wilfully disobey an order he issued on Friday that should have stopped Dr Alawieh's immediate removal. The judge had said authorities needed to provide the court with at least 48 hours' notice of her impending deportation.
The kidney transplant specialist at Brown University in Rhode Island was denied entry into the US after returning from a visit to her family overseas, according to a petition filed in US District Court in Massachusetts. She possessed an H1B visa issued by the US consulate in Beirut on March 11.
Despite having a valid visa, she was detained at Boston’s Logan airport before eventually being put on a plane to Paris.
Based on those statements and the discovery of photos on her phone of Nasrallah and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, the Justice Department said CBP had concluded “her true intentions in the United States could not be determined”.
“A visa is a privilege not a right – glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be denied,” US Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said. “Glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be denied. This is commonsense security.”
The White House mentioned Dr Alawieh in a post on X, saying, “Bye-bye Rasha”, and linking to a report of her deportation.
Late on Sunday, a team of lawyers from the firm of Arnold and Porter, who had been set to represent Dr Alawieh's family, withdrew from the case, telling the court their decision was made “as a result of further diligence”, according to The New York Times.
Her expulsion came as US President Donald Trump's administration has sought to sharply restrict border crossings and increase immigration arrests.
Western governments including the US have designated Hezbollah a terrorist group. The administration has pledged to go after foreign students taking part in pro-Palestine protests on university campuses, saying that they were engaged in spreading Hamas propaganda.
Former graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder, was detained this month and told he would be deported for taking part in protests at Columbia University. Last week, immigration authorities arrested a person involved in the protests who was in the US on an expired student visa, and revoked the visa of another, who chose to “self-deport”.
The Bio
Ram Buxani earned a salary of 125 rupees per month in 1959
Indian currency was then legal tender in the Trucial States.
He received the wages plus food, accommodation, a haircut and cinema ticket twice a month and actuals for shaving and laundry expenses
Buxani followed in his father’s footsteps when he applied for a job overseas
His father Jivat Ram worked in general merchandize store in Gibraltar and the Canary Islands in the early 1930s
Buxani grew the UAE business over several sectors from retail to financial services but is attached to the original textile business
He talks in detail about natural fibres, the texture of cloth, mirrorwork and embroidery
Buxani lives by a simple philosophy – do good to all
Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
THE%20SPECS
%3Cp%3EEngine%3A%204.4-litre%20twin-turbo%20V8%20hybrid%0D%3Cbr%3EPower%3A%20653hp%20at%205%2C400rpm%0D%3Cbr%3ETorque%3A%20800Nm%20at%201%2C600-5%2C000rpm%0D%3Cbr%3ETransmission%3A%208-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E0-100kph%20in%204.3sec%0D%3Cbr%3ETop%20speed%20250kph%0D%3Cbr%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%20NA%0D%3Cbr%3EOn%20sale%3A%20Q2%202023%0D%3Cbr%3EPrice%3A%20From%20Dh750%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
EMILY%20IN%20PARIS%3A%20SEASON%203
%3Cp%3ECreated%20by%3A%20Darren%20Star%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Lily%20Collins%2C%20Philippine%20Leroy-Beaulieu%2C%20Ashley%20Park%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%202.75%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
