Thursday
morning – August 15, 2019 – Trump tweeted:
"It
would show great weakness if Israel allowed Rep. Omar and Rep. Tlaib
to visit. They hate Israel & all Jewish people, & there is
nothing that can be said or done to change their minds. Minnesota and
Michigan will have a hard time putting them back in office. They are
a disgrace!"
Soon after, Israel told
two U.S. representatives – Ilhan Omar (Democrat of Minnesota) and
Rashida Tlaib (Democrat from Michigan) – they would not be allowed
to visit the country due to their outspoken support for the "boycott,
sanctions and divestment" movement. Both women are Muslim and
vocal supporters of the Palestinians. Israeli officials said they
would only be able to visit if willing to pledge they would do so as
"humanitarians" and not speak out against Israel.
The move to bar the
progressive lawmakers from visiting the close U.S. ally marks both a
dramatic escalation of Israel’s campaign against the Boycott,
Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and a politically motivated
racist affront by Trump.
Evidence shows Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acts like a Republican partisan
while both he and Trump use Islamophobic rhetoric in political
campaigns. The leaders employ this strategy against Democrats in an
effort to bolster Jewish support and fire up conservative white
evangelical base.
“Representatives Omar
and Tlaib are the face of the Democrat Party, and they HATE Israel!”
Trump wrote Thursday on Twitter after the two Democrats were barred
by Netanyahu’s government from entering Israel.
The close relationship
between Trump and Netanyahu has intensified ever since Trump became
the first U.S. president to honor a pledge made by nearly every other
presidential nominee to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to
Jerusalem. Netanyahu, in turn, personally dedicated the
groundbreaking for a new community called “Trump Heights” in the
disputed territory of the Golan Heights.
The Israeli government now follows its new ally – Donald Trump. At every turn, the tight alliance between
the Trump administration and the Netanyahu government has facilitated
Israel’s drift to the right, further widening the gap between
Israel and many of its Jewish allies in the United States.
When submitting paperwork
for their visit, both Omar and Talib listed “Palestine” as their
destination, unlike all other representatives that recently visited
Israel. The representatives planned to tour the flashpoint site of
the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, as well as the West
Bank.
Funding for their trip
came from Miftah, an extreme pro-Palestinian organization that
outwardly supports BDS. The trip was also coordinated by veteran
peace negotiator Hanan Ashrawi, winner of the Olof Palme Prize
(2002), the Sydney Peace Prize (2003) and the Mahatma Gandhi
International Award for Peace and Reconciliation (2005).
Established in Jerusalem
in December 1998, Miftah seeks to promote the principles of democracy
and good governance within various components of Palestinian society;
it further seeks to engage local and international public opinion and
official circles on the Palestinian cause. Miftah has adopted the
mechanisms of an active and in-depth dialogue, the free flow of
information and ideas, as well as local and international networking.
Its overall goal is to contribute to the building of a democratic
State of Palestine.
It is apparent that
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, under pressure from President
Trump, denied entry to the representatives. Many believe it should be
Israel’s decision alone to admit or deny these two congresswomen
without the influence of the U.S. President. As usual, Trump made the
situation about himself, dividing the United States, Israel, and Jews
around the world
In a statement,
Representative Omar called the move "an affront" …
"It is an affront
that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, under pressure from President
Trump, would deny entry to representatives of the U.S. government.
Trump's Muslim ban is what Israel is implementing, this time against
two duly elected Members of Congress. Denying entry into Israel not
only limits our ability to learn from Israelis, but also to enter the
Palestinian territories.
"Sadly, this is
not a surprise given the public positions of Prime Minister
Netanyahu, who has consistently resisted peace efforts, restricted
the freedom of movement of Palestinians, limited public knowledge of
the brutal realities of the occupation and aligned himself with
Islamophobes like Donald Trump."
Speaker of the House Nancy
Pelosi said the decision to deny entry to Reps. Omar and Tlaib is a
"sign of weakness" from Israel and "beneath the
dignity" of the country.
House Majority Leader
Steny Hoyer spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu and Ambassador Dermer
on Wednesday to try to convince the Israeli government to allow Tlaib
and Omar entry, according to an aide. Hoyer recently returned from an
annual trip to Israel along with dozens of Congressional Democrats.
In a statement, he called the decision "outrageous."
Hoyer said …
"The decision of the
Israeli government to deny entry to Israel by two Members of Congress
is outrageous, regardless of their itinerary or their views. This
action is contrary to the statement and assurances to me by Israel's
ambassador to the United States that 'out of respect for the U.S.
Congress and the great alliance between Israel and America, we would
not deny entry to any Member of Congress into Israel.' That
representation was not true."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren,
D-Mass., who is running for president, tweeted …
"Israel doesn't
advance its case as a tolerant democracy or unwavering US ally by
barring elected members of Congress from visiting because of their
political views. This would be a shameful, unprecedented move. I urge
Israel's government to allow @IlhanMN and @RashidaTlaib entry."
Sen. Chuck Schumer said
that “denying entry to members of the United States Congress is a
sign of weakness, not strength …
“It will only hurt
the U.S.-Israeli relationship and support for Israel in America. No
democratic society should fear an open debate. Many strong supporters
of Israel will be deeply disappointed in this decision, which the
Israeli government should reverse.”
Emma Green of The Atlantic
writes …
“In the past few years,
Israel has turned away a Columbia University professor, leaders in
the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and an American student. It has
also detained Israel critics such as the Atlantic
contributor Peter Beinart for extensive
questioning, even though Beinart self-identifies as a Zionist. Last
year, the government released a list of 20 international
organizations that would be banned for their alignment with the BDS
movement, including the American group Jewish Voices for Peace.
“While the Israeli
government has defended these decisions as preventing 'such groups
from spreading their falsehoods and odious methods from within the
country,' as the Israeli minister of public security, strategic
affairs, and information, Gilad Erdan, told The Washington Post,
critics and allies alike have described them as fundamentally
antidemocratic, because they have the effect of stifling dissent.
That criticism will only intensify with this ban on two
democratically elected American congresswomen; the ban directly plays
into their argument that Israel does not behave as a free, democratic
nation should.”
(Emma
Green. “Trump Has Enabled Israel’s Antidemocratic Tendencies
at Every
Turn.” The Atlantic. August 15, 2019.)
Netanyahu has all but
abandoned Israel’s traditional stance of bipartisan diplomacy in
the U.S. yet he claims “there is no country in the world that
respects the U.S. and the American Congress more than Israel.”
Really? Omar, born in Michigan to Palestinian parents, and Tlaib, a
naturalized US citizen who arrived as a child refugee from Somalia,
were the first Muslim women elected to Congress. I guess that
“respect” stops in respect to Muslims.
American Jews voted
against Trump in greater numbers than any other U.S. religious group
in 2016, according to Pew Research Center, and they have been on the front
lines of protest against Trump's administration. And now, Israel, under Netanyahu, feverishly works to keep out its critics. Isn't this just like "Send Her Back" Donald Trump? He increasingly exerts undue pressures on those in his own country and on those abroad. As the
Great Divider and Racist-In-Chief, he shows no signs of stopping the aggression.
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