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Israel bars U.S. Democratic lawmakers under pressure from Trump


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Israel bars U.S. Democratic lawmakers under pressure from Trump

By Maayan Lubell and Patricia Zengerle

 

2019-08-15T185216Z_1_LYNXNPEF7E1XU_RTROPTP_4_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-USA.JPG

U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S. Congresswomen Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are seen in a combination from file photos. REUTERS/File Photos

 

JERUSALEM/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday barred U.S. Democratic congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar from making a planned trip to Israel, shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump called on his ally not to let them in.

 

Tlaib and Omar, the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, are members of their party's progressive wing and sharp critics both of Trump and of Israel's policy toward the Palestinians.

 

The moves, which were immediately condemned by many Democratic leaders in the United States as well as Palestinians, could help whip up support among Trump and Netanyahu's conservative voter bases as they head into election campaigns.

 

Israel holds a national election on Sept. 17 and Trump faces re-election in November 2020.

 

Tlaib and Omar have voiced support for the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement over Israel's policies toward Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Under Israeli law, BDS backers can be denied entry to Israel.

 

Israel will bar a visit by U.S. Democratic Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday, shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump called on Israel not to let them in. Jonah Green reports.
 

Omar called Thursday's decision an "affront" and "an insult to democratic values."

 

Israel had initially chosen to allow the visit. A source who took part in consultations Netanyahu held with Cabinet members and advisers on Wednesday told Reuters that Israel backtracked due to pressure from Trump. The pressure was reported by the Axios news site on Saturday but denied by the White House.

 

"In a discussion held two weeks ago all the officials were in favor of letting them in but, after Trump's pressure, they reversed the decision," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

 

In a tweet on Thursday, Trump wrote: "It would show great weakness if Israel allowed Rep. Omar and Rep. Tlaib to visit ... They are a disgrace!"

 

Trump's request appeared to contravene a U.S. government policy that says the United States seeks "equal treatment and freedom to travel" for all U.S. citizens regardless of ethnicity. It says those denied entry should be given a written explanation by Israel.

 

Trump has in recent months accused Tlaib, Omar and two other first-term Democratic congresswomen of colour - dubbed "the Squad" - of hostility to Israel in a barrage condemned by critics as racist and widely seen as a way to drum up of votes for 2020.

 

Omar is a particularly favourite target. At a recent rally in North Carolina, supporters chanted "Send Her Back" after Trump falsely accused her of supporting al Qaeda.

 

The 37-year-old lawmaker who represents a Minnesota congressional district, immigrated to the United States from Somalia as a child. U.S.-born Tlaib, 43, has roots in the West Bank.

 

Omar has been criticized by both Democrats and Republicans for statements critical of Israel, including a 2012 tweet referring to the country’s "evil doings" and a tweet this year saying that support for Israel is all about money. Omar has apologised for such statements.

 

The Axios news site reported on Saturday that Trump had told advisers that he believed Netanyahu should use the anti-boycott law to bar Tlaib and Omar.

 

Israel's ambassador in the United States, Ron Dermer, had said last month that Tlaib and Omar would be let in, out of respect for the U.S. Congress and the U.S.-Israeli relationship.

 

'DENY ISRAEL'S LEGITIMACY'

No date had been formally announced for the congresswomen's trip, but sources familiar with the planning said it could begin over the weekend. They had planned to tour East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, territories Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war, which Palestinians want for a state.

 

Netanyahu said that Israel had the utmost respect for Congress but that Tlaib and Omar were promoting legislation calling for boycotts against Israel.

 

"Only a few days ago, we received their itinerary for their visit in Israel, which revealed that they planned a visit whose sole objective is to strengthen the boycott against us and deny Israel’s legitimacy," Netanyahu said.

 

Netanyahu could easily feel he owes Trump a favor after some of the U.S. president's decisions, such as recognisingIsrael's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, withdrawing from the Iran nuclear accord and moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

 

However, denying entry to elected U.S. officials was likely to further strain relations between Netanyahu, who has highlighted his close ties with Trump in his current re-election campaign, and the Democratic leadership in Congress.

 

"Israel doesn't advance its case as a tolerant democracy or unwavering U.S. ally by barring elected members of Congress from visiting because of their political views. This would be a shameful, unprecedented move," Democratic presidential hopeful and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren said on Twitter.

 

U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate's top Democrat, said in a statement: "Denying entry to members of the United States Congress is a sign of weakness, not strength. It will only hurt the U.S.-Israeli relationship and support for Israel in America."

 

Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestinian official with the Palestine Liberation Organization and founder of Miftah, a West Bank-based nongovernmental organization that is co-sponsoring the trip, called the decision to block it "an affront to the American people and their representatives."

 

"This ban is a clear case of discrimination and hostility based on political views and ethnic background, deserving of moral indignation and unequivocal condemnation in Palestine and the United States," Ashrawi said in a statement.

 

The Palestinians have broken off diplomatic ties with the Trump administration over what they see as its heavily pro-Israelbias.

 

Tlaib's grandmother and extended family live in the Palestinian village of Beit Ur Al-Fauqa.

 

"We were surprised today that they banned Rashida. It is unfair and racist that they banned her from visiting her country Palestine and her family in Palestine," said her uncle, Bassam Tlaib.

 

Netanyahu said that if Tlaib submitted a request to visit family on humanitarian grounds, Israel would consider it as long as she promised not to promote a boycott against Israel.

 

(Reporting by Maayan Lubell, Rami Ayyub, and Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem and Makini Brice and Patricia Zengerle in Washington; Editing by Frances Kerry, John Whitesides, Sonya Hepinstall and Jonathan Oatis)

 

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-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-08-16
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Although no other country in the world would allow a hate mongers, agitators an ultra bias people to enter their borders, Israel decision to allow them to enter was the right one however, the big boss has overruled and vitod the move, and when the big boss want something, the big boss gets it...

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13 minutes ago, ezzra said:

Although no other country in the world would allow a hate mongers, agitators an ultra bias people to enter their borders, Israel decision to allow them to enter was the right one however, the big boss has overruled and vitod the move, and when the big boss want something, the big boss gets it...

Trump doing his best bullying role again. No surprises there

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WOW. POTUS agreeing that two bonafide elected members of Congress, which is the co-equal branch of government, should not go to Israel.

 

Treason? Supporting another foreign government? Didn't he tell them to go back home? Isn't one of these congresswomen's ancestral home...............Palestine? So she can't "go back home"!

 

Surreal, this yankee president.

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55 minutes ago, webfact said:

In a tweet on Thursday, Trump wrote: "It would show great weakness if Israel allowed Rep. Omar and Rep. Tlaib to visit ... They are a disgrace!"

 

I think we can all spot who’s the disgrace, trump. 

 

He’s the one pandering to white nationalist hate in order to stay in office... 

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That's great news!

Israel does not even pretend anymore to care and act like a civilized country.

Hopefully this decision will wake up some people who until now think that Israel should never be criticized.

It's time that more and more people demand that Israel should be boycotted for their constant crimes against the Palestinians. 

It's long overdue that the Palestinians get their own country!

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17 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

That's great news!

Israel does not even pretend anymore to care and act like a civilized country.

Hopefully this decision will wake up some people who until now think that Israel should never be criticized.

It's time that more and more people demand that Israel should be boycotted for their constant crimes against the Palestinians. 

It's long overdue that the Palestinians get their own country!

The Palestinian doesn't want 'their own country' they want to see the jews gone, dead and disappeared from the whole of that region, they were offered 92% of their land back to set up their own country but they refused, and people like you that are deluding themselves that the palestinians want a country...

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21 minutes ago, morrobay said:

The real problem here is all the people who voted for these two. 

No the real problem is POTUS does not realise his role is POTUS, no world dicktator

If someone tried to tell him who should or should not get a visa he would pop a vein, and ruin his tweeting thumbs

 

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2 minutes ago, ezzra said:

The Palestinian doesn't want 'their own country' they want to see the jews gone, dead and disappeared from the whole of that region, they were offered 92% of their land back to set up their own country but they refused, and people like you that are deluding themselves that the palestinians want a country...

I support Israel in their borders from 1940. Problem solved.

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1 minute ago, ezzra said:

The Palestinian doesn't want 'their own country' they want to see the jews gone, dead and disappeared from the whole of that region, they were offered 92% of their land back to set up their own country but they refused, and people like you that are deluding themselves that the palestinians want a country...

 

"92% of their land back". That looks like some crappy propaganda to me. Based on what?

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3 minutes ago, ezzra said:

The Palestinian doesn't want 'their own country' they want to see the jews gone, dead and disappeared from the whole of that region, they were offered 92% of their land back to set up their own country but they refused, and people like you that are deluding themselves that the palestinians want a country...

Thanks, now I know why Israel is expanding continuously, they want to return more of the land to the Palestinians.

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4 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Thanks, now I know why Israel is expanding continuously, they want to return more of the land to the Palestinians.

It's always better to add something that makes sense and not just hot air for the sake of putting your 2 cents worth in...

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2 minutes ago, ezzra said:

I'm always happy to provide those what is a common knowledge to those the uniformed ones...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/may/23/israel3

 

 

Even from your own link;

 

Quote

The proposals included the establishment of a demilitarised Palestinian state on some 92% of the West Bank....

 

The West Bank is not "all of their land". Don't attempt to insult our intelligence with your pathetic attempts at justifying occupation.

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9 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I support Israel in their borders from 1940. Problem solved.

Oh thank you that, many here and around the world doesn't even go that far and wondering how those jews got all the ways from those gas chambers in Europe to have a strong modern and prosperous country...

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4 minutes ago, ezzra said:

It's always better to add something that makes sense and not just hot air for the sake of putting your 2 cents worth in...

 

His post made sense to me. Perhaps it's difficult to see both sides when you have extreme views.

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1 minute ago, ezzra said:

Oh thank you that, many here and around the world doesn't even go that far and wondering how those jews got all the ways from those gas chambers in Europe to have a strong modern and prosperous country...

 

Truly pathetic to try to play the 'victim' card when your other arguments have failed.

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9 minutes ago, JamJar said:

 

 

Even from your own link;

 

 

The West Bank is not "all of their land". Don't attempt to insult our intelligence with your pathetic attempts at justifying occupation.

First, it was a 'crappy propaganda' you didn't even knew about Barak-Clinton offer to Arafat, now you're asking us not to insult your intelligence, now that's a tall order...

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43 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Great decision. These 2 women need to learn there are consequences for their actions. Their hate-mongering has gone way too far.

They certainly learned that there are consequences to actions and they will remember Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. 

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4 minutes ago, JamJar said:

 

Truly pathetic to try to play the 'victim' card when your other arguments have failed.

That is the whole point you and many other are surly missing, these are NOT my point, these are the point of the whole of the jewish nation and the country of Israel that NO thanks to people like you it it what it is today...

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1 minute ago, ezzra said:

First, you didn't even knew about Barak-Clinton offer to Arafat, now you're asking us not to insult your intelligence, now that's a tall order...

 

You don't have even an inkling of what I know. Your posts are either meant to be deliberately misleading, since they are full of misinformation and propaganda....or you are just truly ignorant of the truth. Preferring only to believe what absolves them of evil.

Of course your terrorists were 'freedom fighters'. Whereas anyone else's freedom fighters are 'terrorists'.

 

So please, post your partisan nonsense elsewhere. 

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3 minutes ago, ezzra said:

That is the whole point you and many other are surly missing, these are NOT my point, these are the point of the whole of the jewish nation and the country of Israel that NO thanks to people like you it it what it is today...

 

What's the point? That is is ok for them to act like terrorists because of the what the Nazis did to them?

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