Opinion
Israel was not wrong to ban Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar from entering
Every democracy stops people with views it deems harmful from visiting. Why should Israel be any different?
August 16, 2019 09:31
2 min read
Every democracy stops people with views it deems harmful from visiting. Why should Israel be any different?
August 16, 2019 09:31Here we go again.
There is a trap into which diaspora Jews, including myself, often fall into. It goes something like this.
The first step is that something will happen in Israel, or the Israeli government will decide to do something highly controversial. Consequently, Jews outside Israel will pile in, condemning, describing the action (whatever it is) as making Israel look bad.
Except that the real concern is less to do with Israel and more to do with ourselves – the worry that it makes us, as supporters of Israel, look bad in the eyes of others.
It’s a remarkable thing, one that occasionally afflicts supporters of other countries in the world, but seems to perpetually be an issue for supporters of the only Jewish State.
This tendency was on full display yesterday, as two US congresswomen, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, were banned from entering Israel.
For some, this move represented another nail in the coffin of Israeli democracy. Others were concerned about the supposedly chilling effect this would have on free speech.
It was argued that letting the congresswomen in would have given them a chance to see Israel for themselves and be an opportunity to speak to Israelis, to understand their point of view and their fears, and to come away with a better understanding of the complex nature of the situation.
Except that this was not what they were planning to do. As a copy of their planned itinerary shows, this was a “US Congressional Delegation to Palestine”.
Here’s the proposed schedule for @IlhanMN and @RashidaTlaib now defunct trip ..... pic.twitter.com/gnWO6NyX46
— Ruth Marks Eglash (@reglash) August 15, 2019
I suggest reading that itinerary.
The only Israelis mentioned are those from far-left NGOs. And the Palestinian organisations include one which a few years ago published an article claiming that the blood libel was real and another led by a leading member of a group designated as a terrorist organisation by both the US and EU.
This was a trip with one aim: to further contacts between people determined to destroy Israel.
Are you unaware that your itinerary to Palestine had almost no meetings with Israelis Arab or Jewish? It was full of meetings with hostile parties, anti-semites and BDS activists. Not peace activists. I'd be happy to put to in touch with Israelis working towards peace. https://t.co/vuCehzxd5T
— Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll (@skjask) August 16, 2019
This is the crux of the matter: Both Representatives Tlaib and Omar are supporters of the BDS — Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions — movement, which, despite claims of protest by peaceful means, has been described by its founders as just another way of trying to throttle Israel.
To spin this, as some have, as an Israeli ban on Muslims entering the country is remarkably disingenuous. Since 2017, Israel has been stopping avowed supporters of BDS – including some Jews — from entering the country.
This is eminently reasonable: every country, including western democracies like America and Britain, can and does decline access to people whose views it considers dangerous. This has included elected representatives of other countries — the US has previously denied entry to Israeli Members of the Knesset.
So when it comes to Israel, why should a country welcome in people who support a campaign designed to destroy it? Especially when the clear purpose of their trip is designed to do little more than help boost and promote that narrative?
On Friday, Israel announced it would let in Ms Tlaib on compassionate grounds. Her elderly grandmother lives in the West Bank and the politician asked Israel to permit a visit, promising to refrain from promoting a boycott while there. Ms Omar may yet be allowed to visit as well.
But I would ask those who have so vocally condemned the decision to ban them to take a step back for a minute and ask yourselves: when did you decide that supporting a campaign boycotting Israel and no other country was somehow acceptable behaviour?
And why should Israel welcome in those who promote that campaign?
