JERUSALEM, January 2 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A British peace and human rights activist was expelled from Israel Thursday, January 2, under the pretext that her presence was a threat to national security, her lawyer said.

"Angie Zelter was deported this afternoon, after a Tel Aviv district court approved the government's decision to deny her access to the Israeli territory," Shamai Leibowitz told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"We appealed the decision to the Supreme Court but the judge refused to even hear the case," he added.

The 52-year-old activist, who founded the UK-based anti-nuclear organization Trident Ploughshares and is now involved in setting up the International Women Peace Service-Palestine, arrived in Israel on Sunday to testify in a criminal trial against a settler who assaulted her near Al-Khalil (Hebron) in August.

"When she was denied entry at the airport, she tried to fight the deportation order, but airport security wrapped her up in a blanket and she was forced onto a departing airplane," Leibowitz said.

As she continued to shout for help, the pilot refused to take off and a Tel Aviv district court judge finally scheduled a hearing, he explained.

"The Israeli authorities are in a state of paranoia and think mistakenly that by preventing international activists from entering the territory, they will bring security, when the opposite is true," Leibowitz charged.

"These activists are trying to spread non-violent ideas among the Palestinians, and the Israeli authorities are paradoxically supporting more violence," he added.

Leibowitz, who made a name for himself by joining the defense team of West Bank Fatah leader Marwan Barghuti, allegedly charged with terrorism by Israel, added that Zelter promised to come back.

Zelter was a co-winner of the 2001 Right Livelihood Award -- better known as "The Alternative Nobel Prize" -- together with the Israeli pro-peace group Gush Shalom.

On Friday, December 27, Israel also expelled eight Belgians heading to a Palestinian social forum in Ramallah.

The expulsions came after the Belgian government "took steps" Thursday, December 26, to seek permission for their entry into Israel via Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport.

The Israeli daily Ha’aretz quoted a government spokesperson said that the interior ministry had information that the foreigners, among them six women, "were likely to disturb the peace".

The Belgians were among a 12-member group planning to take part in a four-day "World Social Forum" in Ramallah, Palestinian sources said.