Tlaib Demands Entry to Visit Grandmother, Israel Agrees, Tlaib Rejects Offer
Radical Democrat was approved entry on humanitarian grounds but she rejected it
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After being barred from entering Israel with Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) kicked up a stink and demanded to be allowed to see her elderly grandmother in Palestine on "humanitarian grounds."
The Israeli government approved this request and offered to allow Tlaib access.
Now, despite getting what she wanted, Tlaib says she will not go to Israel to visit her ailing grandmother after all and rejected the Israeli interior ministry's offer.
Tlaib announced her change of heart on Twitter Friday morning:
"When I won, it gave the Palestinian people hope that someone will finally speak the truth about the inhumane conditions.
"I can't allow the State of Israel to take away that light by humiliating me & use my love for my sity [sic] to bow down to their oppressive & racist policies."
When I won, it gave the Palestinian people hope that someone will finally speak the truth about the inhumane conditions. I can't allow the State of Israel to take away that light by humiliating me & use my love for my sity to bow down to their oppressive & racist policies. https://t.co/OYIwExV0ga
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) August 16, 2019
Silencing me & treating me like a criminal is not what she wants for me. It would kill a piece of me. I have decided that visiting my grandmother under these oppressive conditions stands against everything I believe in--fighting against racism, oppression & injustice. https://t.co/z5t5j3qk4H
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) August 16, 2019
"Silencing me & treating me like a criminal is not what she wants for me. It would kill a piece of me.
"I have decided that visiting my grandmother under these oppressive conditions stands against everything I believe in--fighting against racism, oppression & injustice."
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According to CNS News, on Friday, Israel's Interior Minister Arye Deri approved Rep. Rashida Tlaib's request to visit her grandmother in the West Bank on humanitarian grounds.
He relented after Tlaib wrote to him: "I would like to request admittance to Israel in order to visit my relatives, and specifically my grandmother, who is in her 90s and lives in Beit Ur al-Fouqa," Tlaib wrote to the interior minister in a letter dated August 15.
Tlaib said it might be her last opportunity to see her grandmother.
My sity wanted to pick figs w/ me. I broke down reading this & worry every single day after I won for my family's safety. My cousin was texting me which photo of @IlhanMN & I they should put on a welcoming poster when I heard the news. I couldn't tell her.https://t.co/TneIQHwDgO
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) August 16, 2019
"I will respect any restrictions and will not promote boycotts against Israel during my visit," she promised.
Press reports said Tlaib was expected to visit her grandmother and other Palestinian relatives between August 18 and August 24.
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Rep. Ilhan Omar, Tlaib's fellow congresswoman and AOC Squad member, was denied admission to Israel and that decision was not reversed.
As CNS News reported, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Thursday the itinerary provided by the two Democrats showed the purpose of their visit was to work against Israel's interests.
Both women support the "Boycott, Divest and Sanction" or BDS movement, and Netanyahu tweeted that "Israeli law prohibits the entry into Israel of those who call for and work to impose boycotts on Israel, as do other democracies that prohibit the entry of people who seek to harm the country.”
