House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told the Associated Press on Friday that she won’t discourage travel to Israel because of the nation’s decision to ban “Squad” members Rashida Tlaib (D-MN) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) from entering, Breitbart reported.
Tlaib and Omar said they would boycott Israel and encouraged others to do the same after they were told they couldn’t enter the nation because of anti-Israel sentiments they have expressed, including their outward support of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. But Pelosi isn’t hopping on board.
“We have a deep relationship and long-standing relationship with Israel that can withstand Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu,” Pelosi told the AP. “We cannot let their weaknesses stand in the way of our ongoing relationship.”
“They hate Israel”
The decision to bar Tlaib and Omar came after President Donald Trump encouraged Israel not to let them enter on Twitter.
“It would show great weakness if Israel allowed Rep. Omar and Rep. Tlaib to visit,” Trump tweeted. “They hate Israel [and] all Jewish people, [and] there is nothing that can be said or done to change their minds.”
“Sign of weakness”
Pelosi held a press conference after learning of Israel’s decision, saying that it was a “sign of weakness” on Israel’s part and “beneath the dignity” of the country. She also blamed Trump for the decision, saying:
The president’s statements about the congresswomen are a sign of ignorance and disrespect, and beneath the dignity of the office of the president.
After being barred from entry, Tlaib asked Israel for special permission to visit her grandmother on the West Bank. Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri said Friday that he would allow the visit, but Tlaib ended up saying she wasn’t going to because of “oppressive conditions” there.
For his part, President Trump joked on Twitter that Tlaib’s grandmother was the “real winner” in the whole situation because she wouldn’t have to see her granddaughter.
Rep. Tlaib wrote a letter to Israeli officials desperately wanting to visit her grandmother. Permission was quickly granted, whereupon Tlaib obnoxiously turned the approval down, a complete setup. The only real winner here is Tlaib’s grandmother. She doesn’t have to see her now!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2019
Fighting back
It doesn’t seem to matter how reasonable Israel is, they still get accused of being “oppressive.” According to Tlaib and Omar and their allies on the left, it doesn’t matter that Israel has been attacked or under threat from large numbers of their neighbors in the Middle East since it was reunited as a country in 1948.
Israel has offered everything short of letting their enemies take over, but nothing ever seems to be enough of a concession for them. They have been forced to defend themselves against terrorist attacks and rocket launches, and for that, they are called “oppressive” by the ones who are trying to oppress and overrun them.
Why would they want to let into their country U.S. lawmakers who sympathize with their enemies and wish them harm?