Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar respond to Israel's decision to bar them

Both Tlaib and Omar support a resolution affirming the right of Americans to participate in boycotts and have expressed support for the BDS movement.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
U.S. Rep Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and U.S. Rep Ilhan Omar (D-MN) (photo credit: REUTERS/ERIN SCOTT)
U.S. Rep Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and U.S. Rep Ilhan Omar (D-MN)
(photo credit: REUTERS/ERIN SCOTT)
Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib both responded on Thursday night to the announcement that they will not be allowed to enter Israel, ahead of planned visits to the country.
Omar responded to being barred entry from Israel, saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is implementing US President Donald Trump's "travel ban" on Muslim congresswomen.
"It is an affront that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, under pressure from President Trump, would deny entry to representatives of the US government," she wrote."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.
"As a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, it is my job to conduct oversight of foreign aid from the United States of America and to legislate on human rights practices around the world. The irony of the 'only democracy' in the Middle East making such a decision is that it is both an insult to democratic values and a chilling response to a visit by government officials from an allied nation."

Tlaib also responded to Israel's ban on Thursday, calling the move a sign of weakness.
"This woman right here is my sity," Tlaib wrote on Twitter with a picture of her grandmother. "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."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel received the planned itineraries of the freshmen congresswomen a few days ago, and said it became clear that they were “planning a campaign whose sole purpose was to strengthen the boycott and to undermine Israel's legitimacy.”
Both Tlaib and Omar support a resolution affirming the right of Americans to participate in boycotts and have expressed support for the BDS movement.
In 2017 the Knesset passed an anti-BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions] law that blocks foreign BDS activists from gaining entry to Israel.