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Tlaib, straight out of Saturday Night Live

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Initially, when Israel formally barred Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota from entering Israel, I thought it was a terrible mistake. Of course, these congresswomen’s enmity and rancor toward the Jewish state is well known. Certainly, this would not have been a fair, educational or neutral diplomatic visit.

That said, I generally believe it behooves Israel to take the high road when conflicts arise. Yet the more I read about this particular situation, the more I understand Israel’s decision.

An American congressional delegation visited Israel the previous week but Tlaib and Omar were not part of it. They didn’t want to join. Instead, they planned a separate trip titled “US Congressional Delegation to Palestine,” refusing to even acknowledge the name or existence of Israel. Their itinerary precluded any meetings with Israeli officials — in fact, it excluded any engagement with Israel at all.

Then there was Tlaib’s ruse about visiting her grandmother — you can’t make this stuff up. Israel, never thinking to question the motives of someone evoking a desire to visit, possibly for the last time, one’s grandmother, acquiesced on humanitarian grounds. Tlaib’s request was granted. Yet in fact, the elderly grandparent was being cynically used for political motives, truly a new low.

This story read like a script for Saturday Night Live. Israel granted Tlaib permission to visit her aging grandmother, whom she hadn’t seen in over 10 years — and then Tlaib turned Israel down. Never mind grandma. As many pointed out, Tlaib’s hate for Israel eclipses her love for her own grandmother.

One of Golda Meir’s famous pithy statements touched on this very idea: “Peace will come to the Middle East when the Arabs love their children more than they hate us.”

For Israel, this was a classic case of “damned if you do, damned if you don’t.” Not admitting the congresswomen caused a negative reaction, but letting them in would have likely caused terrible tension among the Arab Palestinians they were scheduled to visit, potentially fanning flames that could have caused real security problems.

Bassem Eid, a non-political peaceful Palestinian activist and leader who devotes his life to working toward a future for both Arab Palestinians and Jewish Israelis in Israel, wrote this on his Facebook page: “I want to tell Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib to stop your scandal and propaganda. Your hatred to Israel will never help or serve the Palestinian cause. … Tlaib go and help your people in Gaza and free them from the Hamas occupation. Stop both of you using us for your agenda. Both of you are now hurting only…”

David French of the National Review explains how the heart of this disturbing story is that these two American women eschewed a bi-partisan congressional trip and instead aligned with a known anti-Israel and anti-Semite — Hanan Ashrawi, who heads an organization called Miftah. French explored her website, which led me to check it out as well. It is truly disturbing, replete with blatant anti-Semitic material, including an explicit accusation of a blood libel. Ashrawi is no bridge builder or peacemaker.

Imagine if US members of Congress had planned a trip with a known white supremacist. Would we still be focused on a conversation about the merits of said country’s decision to deny entry to the people in question? Yay or nay?

Omar and Tlaib’s decision to shun the bi-partisan congressional trip to Israel and instead plan a separate visit by partnering with a radical Palestinian activist is a watershed moment, giving credence to what has heretofore been verboten. Yet the media and much of the public continue to focus on Israel’s decision while ignoring what’s truly troubling: two congresswomen planned a trip to Israel (whose very existence they refuse to acknowledge by name) in partnership with a radicalized activist and known anti-Semitic personality.

Copyright Intermountain Jewish News