12 August 22 • 2019
jn
JOSEFIN DOLSTEN JTA
A
fter requesting and getting
permission from the Israeli
government to visit her grand-
mother in the West Bank, Rep. Rashida
Tlaib, D-Mich., decided not to go,
tweeting, “I have decided that visiting
my grandmother under these oppres-
sive conditions stands against every-
thing I believe in.”
That tweet came on Aug. 16, a day
after she and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.,
were denied permission to enter Israel
days before their planned congressio-
nal mission to the West Bank, despite
Israel’
s envoy to Washington Ron
Dermer saying last month that the
country would not deny entry to any
member of Congress.
Under Israeli law, BDS supporters
can be prevented from entering the
country. The congresswomen are sup-
porters of the Boycott, Divestment and
Sanctions movement targeting Israel.
“We won’
t allow those who deny
our right to exist in this world to enter
Israel. In principle, this is a very justi-
fied decision,” Israel’
s deputy foreign
minister Tzipi Hotovely told Israel’
s
public broadcaster Kan.
The decision was announced after
President Donald Trump wrote on
Twitter that Israel “would show great
weakness” if it let Tlaib and Omar in.
The president has repeatedly attacked
Tlaib, a Palestinian-American, and
Omar, who was born in Somalia,
at times invoking rhetoric widely
described as racist.
Omar responded to the news: “The
irony of the ‘
only democracy’
in the
Middle East making such a decision is
that it is both an insult to democratic
values and a chilling response to a visit
by government officials from an allied
nation.”
RESPONSE FROM MICHIGAN’
S
DEMOCRATIC DELEGATION
Several Democratic members of
Michigan’
s congressional delegation
decried the news.
“This is a completely misguid-
ed decision that reeks of political
motivation,” said Rep. Andy Levin.
“Congresswoman Tlaib, whose family
lives in the West Bank, and Rep. Omar,
a member of the House Foreign Affairs
Committee, deserve to
be treated with the digni-
ty and respect any other
member of Congress
would receive.
“This decision pulls
at the seams of our two
countries’
important
relationship and endan-
gers Israel by attempting to politicize
American support for the country,” he
continued. “The Israeli government
should reject the bigoted, wedge-driv-
ing political tactics of President Trump
and grant Reps. Tlaib and Omar entry
into the country to do their jobs.”
Rep. Brenda Lawrence said, “Though
I may not always agree on all matters
of foreign policy with my colleagues
Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, I do
believe that as members of the U.S.
Congress, they should be allowed to
visit Democratic nations around the
world. Barring members
of Congress from enter-
ing Israel or any other
country would set a bad
precedent.”
Earlier this month,
Rep. Haley Stevens
participated in the
bipartisan congressional
delegation to Israel. “I was grateful
for the opportunity to participate in
balanced and thought-provoking edu-
cational seminars, meet with Israeli and
Palestinian officials, and learn more
about Israel’
s culture and
politics,” she said.
“I agree with those
who say any member of
Congress should con-
sider visiting Israel to
learn more about the
region. Prime Minister
Netanyahu’
s decision
to deny entry to members of the U.S.
House of Representatives is heartbreak-
ing and discouraging.
“I strongly oppose the BDS move-
ment and all attempts to delegitimize
Israel’
s right to exist, and I encourage
all to join me in the chorus to disavow
these actions,” she added. “I also pray
that the decision to bar members of
Congress from visiting Israel will be
reversed so they can see and experience
the beautiful, accepting and democratic
nation I saw firsthand.”
WIDE-RANGING CRITICISM
Pro-Israel groups, including AIPAC,
objected to the move.
AIPAC said that Israel should allow
sitting members of the U.S. Congress to
enter the country and see it for them-
selves. “We disagree with Reps. Omar
and Tlaib’
s support for the anti-Israel
and anti-peace BDS movement, along
with Rep. Tlaib’
s calls for a one-state
solution,” the organization tweeted.
“We also believe every member of
Congress should be able to visit and
experience our democratic ally Israel
firsthand.”
The American Jewish Committee’
s
CEO David Harris wrote on Twitter
that “Israel faced a tough choice,” but
that it “should’
ve taken the high road
and let these members of Congress in,
no matter how vile their views.”
The Anti-Defamation League like-
wise said that “while we absolutely
disagree with the pro-BDS positions of
Reps. [Omar and Tlaib], keeping them
out is counterproductive.”
The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a
global human rights NGO, also decried
the move. “Representatives Omar and
Tlaib are unapologetic anti-Semites
and supporters of the anti-peace BDS
movement,” wrote Rabbi Abraham
Cooper, the center’
s associate dean and
director of global social action. “The
congresswomen should have joined
dozens of their colleagues who recently
visited Israel and Palestinian territories.
Still, the first instinct of Israeli officials
to let them into the country was the
right one.”
Halie Soifer, executive director of
the Jewish Democratic Council of
America, said, “Banning members of
Congress from visiting Israel, where
they can see facts on the ground with
their own eyes, is counterproductive
and plays into President Trump’
s goal
of politicizing support for Israel.
“The best way to fight falsehoods
about Israel is with truth, and the
best way to refute charges that Israel
is anti-democratic is to uphold dem-
ocratic principles,” she continued.
“Moreover, the best way to deepen an
understanding of the complex dynam-
ics surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict is for individuals to visit. These
are the opportunities Reps. Omar and
Tlaib’
s trip to Israel would provide.
“Preventing members of Congress
from visiting Israel is effectively forcing
them to boycott. This is unwise and
counterproductive. Certainly, it is not
the way to fight the global BDS move-
ment, which we strongly oppose.”
DECISION SUPPORTERS
There were Jewish groups who
applauded the decision.
The Republican Jewish Coalition
noted that Israel recently welcomed a
congressional delegation of 70 lawmak-
ers from both parties. The RJC said
Netanyahu welcoming that delegation
shows that this decision “has nothing
to do with American partisan politics.”
The Zionist Organization of America
praised the ban in a statement from its
president, Morton Klein, and chair-
man, Mark Levenson. The pair said
that the congresswomen “should not be
given the opportunity to further dele-
gitimize and harm all of us.”
U.S. Ambassador to Israel David
Friedman wrote on Twitter that he
supported the decision, saying that the
lawmakers’
trip itinerary showed the
visit “is nothing more than an effort to
fuel the BDS engine.”
The American Jewish Congress
tweeted: “Israel made the right call on
@RashidaTlaib & @IlhanMN: It is
Israel’
s sovereign decision to not allow
the entry of those who support boy-
cotting the state of Israel … A show
of political theater would have only
served to further inflame the already
sensitive atmosphere.” ■
Associate Editor Jackie Headapohl contributed to
this report.
jews d
in
the
Levin
Lawrence
Stevens
Congressional
Twists and Turns
Netanyahu bars Tlaib, Omar from entering Israel.
FACEBOOK
FACEBOOK
Rep. Ilhan Omar
Rep. Rashida Tlaib
e
Ac
|
J
C
Ou
or
e
men
P)
|
r
|
L
r
for
t
za
m
(
nny
wis
h
y
er
r
|
S
uc
at
oor
bin
Ad
ic
e
wis
h
ul
t
s
iv
e
mar
y
|
J
l
t
on
enin
de
M
r
wi
nic
e
wis
h
ul
t
s
iv
e
mar
r
Wa
c
e
M
pen
Wa
r
eM
19 0