Omar and Tlaib: Won’t let Netanyahu, Trump hide cruel reality of occupation

Congresswomen Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, who were denied entry to Israel last week, called a press conference on Monday and used the platform to slam Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump.

“We cannot let Trump and Netanyahu succeed in hiding the cruel reality of the occupation from us,” said Rep. Omar. “The occupation is real. Barring members of Congress from seeing it does not make it go away. We must end it together.”

“The decision to ban me and my colleague, the first two Muslim American women elected to Congress, is nothing less than an attempt by an ally of the United States to suppress our ability to do our jobs as elected officials,” she continued. “Netanyahu’s decision to deny us entry might be unprecedented for members of Congress, but it is the policy of his government when it comes to Palestinians. This is the policy of his government when it comes to anyone who holds views that threaten the occupation, a policy that has been edged on and supported by Trump’s administration. That’s because the only way to preserve unjust policy is to suppress people’s freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of movement.”

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Hinting again at a possible move of cutting aid to Israel, which Senator Bernie Sanders had suggested in the past, Omar added, “We have a constructive role to play.

“We give Israel more than $3 Billion in aid every year. This is predicated on their being an important ally in the region and the only democracy in the Middle East, but denying visit to duly elected members of congress is not consistent with being an ally and denying millions of people freedom of movement or expression or self-determination is not consistent with being a democracy.”

She also slammed the President and said that Trump, “would love nothing more than to use this issue to pit Muslims and Jewish Americans against each other. The Muslim community and the Jewish community are being ‘othered’ and made into the boogeyman by this administration.”

Tlaib added that “it is unfortunate that Prime Minister Netanyahu has apparently taken a page out of Trump’s book and even direction from Trump to deny this opportunity.”

She recalled a visit as a young girl to her grandparents and extended family.

“I watched as my mother had to go through dehumanizing checkpoints, even though she was a United States citizen and a proud American,” Tlaib said. “I remember visiting East Jerusalem with my husband, and him escorted off the bus although he was a United States citizen, just so security forces could harass him.

“All I can do as the granddaughter of a woman who lives in occupied territory is to elevate her voice by exposing the truth,” Tlaib went on. “The only way I know how, as my Detroit public schools teachers taught me, is by humanizing the pain of oppression. Our delegation trip included meetings with Israeli veterans who were forced to participate in military occupation.”

Israel had at first agreed to let the congresswomen in the country, but last-minute backtracked on its decision, some say due to a tweet by the US president that said Israel would be “weak” to allow them entry.

Netanyahu said the change in decision was due to a review of their itinerary and that the sole objective of their visit was to bolster the boycott against Israel and deny the country’s legitimacy, without even meeting any of the nation’s leaders. 

On Thursday night, Tlaib sent a letter to Israel’s Interior Minister, Arye Deri, asking permission to enter Israel on humanitarian grounds.

“I would like to request admittance to Israel in order to visit my relatives, and specifically my grandmother, who is in her 90s and lives in Beit Ur al-Fouqa,” Tlaib wrote in the letter, which became public on Friday morning.

“This could be my last opportunity to see her,” the Congresswoman added. “I will respect any restrictions and will not promote boycotts against Israel during my visit.” 

Tlaib was then granted access. However, the next day, she announced that she would not travel to Israel, citing “oppressive conditions” by the Israeli government.

Deri tweeted: “I approved her request as a gesture of goodwill on a humanitarian basis, but it was just a provocative request, aimed at bashing the State of Israel. Apparently, her hate for Israel overcomes her love for her grandmother.”

Trump slammed the congresswoman and tweeted that “the only real winner here is Tlaib’s grandmother. She doesn’t have to see her now!”

“[She] wrote a letter to Israeli officials desperately wanting to visit her grandmother,” he added. “Permission was quickly granted, whereupon Tlaib obnoxiously turned the approval down, a complete setup.”