Ilhan Omar on Palestine, part II

Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and (with saintly glow) AOC, on July 15th 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

On August 15th 2019 President Trump got Israel to ban US Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib from travelling there. The same was done to Black members of Congress by South Africa in the days of apartheid. (Notice how these racist governments do not fear White people in Congress.)

Some of what Omar was stopped from doing (from her Twitter feed, bolding mine):

First, I planned to hold meetings with members of the Knesset (both Jewish and Arab) along with Israeli security officials.

The claims of @IsraeliPM otherwise are not true.

As a delegation, we were also were scheduling a meeting with @USAmbIsrael.

Then, the delegation was going to receive a briefing on the Bedouin community in East Jerusalem. For decades, Bedouin homes have been bulldozed and communities have been uprooted in order to build settlements on Palestinian land.

Though these settlements are illegal under international law and threaten peace, settlement growth has skyrocketed under Trump.

Then the UN was going to brief us about the effect of humanitarian aid cuts on Palestinians.

Last year, the Trump Admin announced the U.S. will no longer contribute to the United Nations’ relief agency for Palestinian refugees, threatening the livelihood of millions and violating international law.

We planned a video conference with youth from Gaza.

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is one of the worst in the world – with 97% of water unfit for human consumption and on the verge of collapse. Most of the people in Gaza are children.

We then planned to visit Hebron. Once a bustling economic hub, settlement expansion has resulted in a two-tiered city, with Palestinians under military occupation forced to walk on the opposite side of the street from Israelis.

77% of shops have closed bc of military occupation. Palestinians walk with garbage nets above their heads, put up to catch trash thrown by settlers. Violent attacks on Palestinians are routine.

We were going to receive a tour of the city from @btsisrael, Israeli military veterans who aim to raise awareness about their experiences with the occupation.

We planned to visit the separation wall around historic Bethlehem. Only 13% of Bethlehem is now accessible to Palestinian use.

The wall, built in 2002 against international law, was said at the time to be “temporary.”

It still stands.

…

lack of respect for freedom of movement and freedom of expression is part of the day-to-day lives of Palestinians living in the occupied territories.

Though we were unable to witness this firsthand, there are other ways for people to learn about the occupation.

Follow @alhaq_org, @btselem, @amnesty … @PeterBeinart, … @IfnotnowOrg.

As many of my colleagues have stated in the last 24 hours, we give Israel more than $3 billion in aid every year. This is predicated on their being an important ally in the region, and the ‘only democracy’ in the Middle East.

Denying visits to duly elected Members of Congress is not consistent with being either an ally or a democracy. We should be leveraging that aid to stop the settlements and ensure full rights for Palestinians.

Source: @IlhanMN (August 16th 2019).

See also:

• Black Americans on Palestine:
  • Ilhan Omar on Palestine, part I
  • Angela Davis on Palestine
  • Marc Lamont Hill on Palestine
• Palestine
  • Israel
    • Israel’s Wall
    • settler colonialism
    • AIPAC
      • The Jewish Disneyland tour – the one most members of Congress take. Does not feature Bedouins from demolished villages or even Hebron, much less Gaza.
    • MIFTAH – Omar’s tour provider
  • East Jerusalem
    • Rula Jebreal
  • West Bank
  • Gaza
• Donald Trump
  • Muslim travel ban
  • US border camps
• The Squad
  • Ilhan Omar
  • Rashida Tlaib
  • AOC
  • Ayanna Pressley

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