The two Democratic Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar sought to demonize Israel’s decision to bar their entry into the country, claiming it positions Muslim and Jewish Americans against one another. In a press conference that was organized by the two American Representatives, they focused their statements on attacking both Israel and the Trump Administration for what they claimed ‘suppresses their ability to do their jobs as elected officials’.
Omar argued that “The decision to ban me and my colleagues, 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. But this is not just about me. 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.”
Congresswoman Omar also proposed in her statement that US-aid to Israel should be made contingent on equality for the Palestinians and an end to Israel’s policy of settlement expansion in the West Bank, which includes the Biblical districts of Judea (where the eastern part of Jerusalem is situated), Samaria and the Jordan Valley. It is important to mention that while Congresswomen Tlaib and Omar provided a long list of condemnations of the Jewish State and its so-called treatment of Palestinians, they did not talk about the reason for the Israeli decision, which cited their active support for the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against the State of Israel.