Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib will not visit Isreal, despite the Israeli government saying they would allow her into the country if she agreed to certain conditions. The New York Times reports that one of those conditions included a demand that she promise in writing to avoid promoting protests against the Isreali state.
Tlaib is Palestinian, and her family lives in the West Bank, which is a region currently controlled by Isreal. She had planned to go to Israel to visit her grandmother. However, on August 15, Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely declared that Rashida Tlaib and fellow congresswoman Ilhan Omar would not be allowed into the country, as the Inquisitr reported. His statement followed a tweet from President Donald Trump, which stated that Isreal would be exhibiting “weakness” if they permitted entry to two Muslim congresswomen who had been critical of their policies in the past.
Trump has previously used his Twitter page to slam Tlaib, Omar and fellow freshman Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Ayanna Pressley for their critiques of his policies.
“So interesting to see ‘Progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe… now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States… how our government is to be run,” Trump tweeted.
In a statement posted on her Twitter page, Tlaib said that she decided not to visit Isreal because she could not comply with their government’s demands.
“Visiting my grandmother under these oppressive conditions stands against everything I believe in,” Tlaib wrote.
Tlaib also said her grandmother wouldn’t want the visit to happen under these conditions.
“Silencing me & treating me like a criminal is not what she wants for me,” she added. “It would kill a piece of me.”
This woman right here is my sity. She deserves to live in peace & with human dignity. I am who I am because of her. The decision by Israel to bar her granddaughter, a U.S. Congresswoman, is a sign of weakness b/c the truth of what is happening to Palestinians is frightening. pic.twitter.com/GGcFLiH9N3
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) August 15, 2019
As CBS News notes, Tlaib said that she had planned to pick figs with her grandmother, and there were plans to create a welcome sign for her and Omar when they arrived.
CBS also notes that Isreal has decided to maintain the travel ban on Omar. She has previously been accused of Anti-Semitism due to comments she made about AIPAC — The American Isreal Public Affairs Committee — an organization dedicated to strengthening American-Israel relations.
CNN reports that despite the previous controversy, AIPAC has expressed support for the Tlaib and Omar’s Israeli visit, stating that they believe the Congresswomen should have “the right to visit and experience our democratic ally Israel firsthand.”