Israel will permit Rep. Rashida Tlaib entry into Israel for family visit

Having reached out to Israel’s Interior Minister, Rep.Tlaib requested special permission to visit her elderly grandmother, promising to “respect any restrictions and [not] promote boycotts against Israel” during her visit.
– Rep. Ilhan Omar remans persona non grata, blasts decision as an “insult to democratic values.”

By  Ariel Kahana , i24NEWS , News Agencies , Israel Hayom Staff
*Editor’s Notes and Postscript by IsraelandStuff.com

 

The congresswomen have been vocal critics of Israel and advocated support for the Boycott, Divestments, and Sanctions movement targeting the government and Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely officially announced earlier Thursday that Tlaib and Omar would not be allowed to enter Israel due to their BDS support.

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) – Photo: Arielinson/Wikimedia Commons

“Israel has decided – we won’t enable the members of Congress members to enter the country,” Hotovely told Israeli public broadcaster Kan.

“We won’t allow those who deny our right to exist in this world to enter Israel. In principle this is a very justified decision,” she added.

The decision to ban the two lawmakers from entering Israel, made by Deri, was first reported by Hebrew-language broadcaster Channel 12.

As final deliberations were being made on the matter, US President Donald Trump took to Twitter to encourage the Israeli government not to back down.

“It would show great weakness if Israel allowed Rep. Omar and Rep.Tlaib to visit,” Trump posted to Twitter earlier on Thursday. “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!”

We won’t allow those who deny our right to exist in this world to enter Israel. In principle this is a very justified decision. – Tzipi Hotovely

Earlier on Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was said to be weighing whether to bar the lawmakers from entering the country.

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said called Israel’s decision “deeply disappointing” and called on it to reverse the move.

“Israel’s denial of entry to Congresswomen Tlaib and Omar is a sign of weakness, and beneath the dignity of the great state of Israel,” Pelosi said.

Tlaib and Omar were expected to arrive in Israel on Friday. If Hebrew media reports are true, then the decision taken by the Netanyahu government comes despite heavy opposition from US pro-Israel groups and organizations affiliated with the US Democratic Party.

Israeli security officials had been holding secret deliberations for weeks reportedly in preparation of the lawmakers’ visit, with Israel’s deputy national security concluding “there is high probability” that they would want to visit the highly-sensitive Temple Mount.

Meanwhile, in Tlaib’s ancestral village in the West Bank, her family said her support of the BDS movement comes from her life experience.

“As a member of American Congress and also as a Palestinian, for some of her life, Rashida lived under occupation,” Tlaib’s uncle Bassem told i24NEWS. “She lived the reality of suffering from the Israeli occupation, so the message of her visit will be different from what you hear in the media about this region.”

(Tlaib’s uncle Bassem outright lied. He said, “She lived the reality of suffering from the Israeli occupation.” – Rep.Tlaib was born in the US, went to school and university in the US, and never was a resident in Israel or her grandmother’s village… hence no ‘living reality of occupation.’ – Israel and Stuff.)

Tlaib made political history in the United States as the first Palestinian-American and the first Muslim women elected to Congress this past January.

(ANOTHER Palestinian lie. – The FIRST Palestinian-American elected to Congress was Jewish, John Hans Krebs. Before Krebs was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from California’s 17th district as a Democrat in 1974, he lived in the Mandate for Palestine for nearly 20 years. READ MORE HERE. – Israel and Stuff)

“It will be different from what the American people hear and think about the occupation. Rashida will give the right picture of the occupation and the way Palestinians live,” her uncle added.

For the people of the small village of Beit Horon, Tlaib represents more than just the people of Michigan. They hope that Tlaib’s position in government can change US policy in the region.

“We are very proud to have a person like Rashida, not just because she is a member in American Congress but also because she is a very strong woman. She made a lot of effort to reach this point,” Ashraf Samara, who leads the village council, told i24NEWS.

Parts of this article were originally published by i24NEWS.

 

View original Israel Hayom publication at:
https://www.israelhayom.com/2019/08/15/deputy-fm-us-congresswomen-tlaib-and-omar-barred-from-entering-country/

 

 

 

 

ISRAEL
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