Omar, Tlaib speak out on travel restrictions after being denied entry into Israel

U.S. Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib sharply criticized Israel on Monday for denying them entry to the Jewish state and called on fellow members of Congress to visit while they cannot.

Omar, of Minnesota, suggested President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were suppressing the lawmakers' ability to carry out their oversight role.

"I would encourage my colleagues to visit, meet with the people we were going to meet with, see the things we were going to see, hear the stories we were going to hear," Omar said at a news conference. "We cannot let Trump and Netanyahu succeed in hiding the cruel reality of the occupation from us."

At the urging of Trump, Israel denied entry to the two Muslim congresswomen over their support for the Palestinian-led boycott movement. Tlaib and Omar, who had planned to visit Jerusalem and the Israeli-occupied West Bank on a tour organized by a Palestinian group, are outspoken critics of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians and support the Palestinian-led international movement boycotting Israel.

Tlaib, of Michigan, and Omar were joined by Minnesota residents who've been directly affected by travel restrictions. They include Lana Barkawi, a Palestinian-American who's executive and artistic director of Mizna, a cultural group that sponsors the annual Twin Cities Arab Film Fest. The U.S. government denied visas to several Mideast actors and directors who had been invited to participate last year.

White House spokesperson Hogan Gidley kept up the administration's criticism of the two lawmakers Monday.

"Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar have a well-documented history of anti-Semitic comments, anti-Semitic social media posts and anti-Semitic relationships," he said in a statement. "Israel has the right to prevent people who want to destroy it from entering the country — and Democrats' pointless congressional inquiries here in America cannot change the laws Israel has passed to protect itself."

Urged by Trump

Before Israel's decision, Trump tweeted it would be a "show of weakness" to allow the two representatives in. Israel controls entry and exit to the West Bank, which it seized in the 1967 Mideast war along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, territories the Palestinians want for a future state.

Trump's request to a foreign country to bar the entry of elected U.S. officials — and Israel's decision to do so — were unprecedented and drew widespread criticism, including from many Israelis as well as staunch supporters of Israel in Congress. Critics said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision was a reckless gamble that risked turning Israel into a partisan issue and threatened to undermine ties between the close allies.

Tlaib and Omar support "boycott, divestment and sanctions," or BDS, a Palestinian-led global movement. Supporters say the movement is a non-violent way of protesting Israel's military rule over the occupied territories, but Israel says it aims to delegitimize the state and eventually wipe it off the map.

Last week, Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri said Tlaib had requested and been granted permission to enter the West Bank to see her aging grandmother. Deri's office released a letter that it said was from Tlaib, which promised to respect travel restrictions during her visit. But after the announcement, Tlaib tweeted she wouldn't allow Israel to use her love for her grandmother to force her to "bow down to their oppressive & racist policies."

The two congresswomen are part of the "squad" of liberal newcomers — all women of colour — whom Trump has labelled as the face of the Democratic Party as he runs for re-election.

The Republican president subjected them to a series of tweets last month in which he called on them to "go back" to their "broken" countries. They are U.S. citizens — Tlaib was born in the U.S., and Omar became a citizen after moving to the United States as a refugee from war-torn Somalia.