Trump’s refrain that the Democrats are anti-Israel is a strategic effort to foster division among Democrats over Israel so that he can get Jewish donors and voters in 2020. That division exists. The party’s progressive base wants to strip US aid to Israel, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Israeli President Rivlin are leaping in to assure the Democratic establishment that Israel is above politics.
Israel’s defenders explain to Rashida Tlaib that it’s not anti-Semitic to criticize Israel, so long as you say it’s a vibrant democracy. So the oppression of millions of Palestinians is a golden opportunity for Israelis to show off their country. The bigotry is the same as justifying slavery by the fact that Lincoln and Douglas debated it, and Frederick Douglass was able to get in one word edgewise.
In the wake of Israel’s ban on Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, the media has jumped on the supposed ‘radical’ dealings of MIFTAH, the local sponsor for the planned delegation to Palestine. In Palestine, the group maintains a relatively a-political, non-controversial presence with a focus on female empowerment and self-sustainability projects.
With national attention focused on the two US congresswomen who have been denied entry into Israel, members of Congress and even presidential candidates are not only openly criticizing Israel, they are considering ways to hold it accountable. At what is clearly a watershed moment, activists and organizers must be extremely cautious about steering the conversation in the right direction.
When US congress members Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar were barred from entering Israel it was shocking for many. Traveling for an American citizen is a privilege often taken for granted. But if you are a Palestinian living under Israel occupation it becomes almost impossible. “Most of our visas get rejected,” Malkon Marizian explains to Mondoweiss. “This is related to our status. It is all related to the occupation.”
Standing up for Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s right to visit Palestine, Geraldo Rivera on Fox News describes Palestinian conditions under occupation, and says, “If it were not Israel and it was not the Jews, if it was any other country that took this action, we would all be outraged.”
US Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib doubled down on their criticisms of the Israeli government for denying them entry to the country, with Omar hinting that Congress should reconsider the billions of dollars in annual military aid given to Israel.
Social media networks were flooded with odes to Palestinian grandmothers over the weekend, as Palestinians from across the diaspora shared photos and stories of their family matriarchs with the hashtag #MyPalestinianSitty.
Forward Opinion Editor Batya Ungar Sargon insinuated Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib shared anti-Semitic material on social media, when they posted a cartoon by Carlos Latuff showing Trump and Netanyahu silencing them. This is not the first time Ungar Sargon has led the assault on those very few who dare challenge Israeli policy head-on.
The Orientalist bias is in the first sentence of this ‘NY Times’ report. Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s grandmother apparently prays to ‘Allah,’ not to ‘God.’ This is how the press other-izes Arabs.