Rashida Tlaib says she won't go to Israel due to 'oppressive conditions'

Rep. Rashida Tlaib said Friday that she will not make a planned trip to the West Bank hours after Israeli officials said they had granted a request for the congresswoman to enter the country on humanitarian grounds to visit her relatives.

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Tlaib and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., had been scheduled to visit Israel from Sunday through Aug. 22, though the trip was ostensibly canceled after Israel authorities said they would not allow either outspoken congresswoman to enter the country.

Tlaib and Omar have previously criticized Israel's treatment of Palestinians and showed support for a boycott.

Update 10:15 a.m. EDT Aug. 16: In a statement obtained by CNN, Tlaib accused the Israeli government of "racist treatment" and of using her affection for her grandmother to silence her.

"Visiting my grandmother under these oppressive conditions meant to humiliate me would break my grandmother's heart. Silencing me with treatment to make me feel less-than is not what she wants for me -- it would kill a piece of me that always stands up against racism and injustice," Tlaib wrote.

"I am a duly elected United States Congresswoman and I will not allow the Israeli government to humiliate me and my family or take away our right to speak out. I will not allow the Israeli government to take away our hope."

Israel's foreign minister, Aryeh Deri, accused Tlaib of asking to visit her grandmother for political reasons.

"I approved her request as a gesture of goodwill on a humanitarian basis, but it was just a provocative request, aimed at bashing the State of Israel," he said in a statement posted on Twitter. "Apparently her hate for Israel overcomes her love for her grandmother."

Update 9:55 a.m. EDT Aug. 16: In a series of statements posted Friday morning on Twitter, Tlaib said she had decided not to travel to the West Bank to visit her grandmother after Israeli officials announced they would allow her to enter the country to visit her family.

"I have decided that visiting my grandmother under these oppressive conditions stands against everything I believe in -- fighting against racism, oppression & injustice," Tlaib said.

Update 8:05 a.m. EDT Aug. 16 : Tlaib wrote to Israel's interior minister, Aryeh Deri, late Thursday and asked for permission to see her 90-year-old grandmother, The New York Times reported. Tlaib's grandmother lives in Beit Ur al-Fouqa, a Palestinian village west of Ramallah, the newspaper reported..

"This could be my last opportunity to see her," Tlaib wrote. "I will respect any restrictions and will not promote boycotts against Israel during my visit."

Update 5:45 a.m. EDT Aug. 16: Israel's Interior Minister, Aryeh Deri, said Friday he would approve a request from Tlaib, D-Mich., to visit her 90-year-old grandmother, The Washington Post reported.
The decision comes a day after Israel announced it would prohibit Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Tlaib  from entering the country for a four-day trip to the Palestinian territories.

Original report: Israeli officials are barring two outspoken U.S. congresswomen from entering the country during an upcoming overseas trip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Thursday.

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely told Israel's Reshet Radio that Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. would not be allowed to visit the country, Reuters reported.

"The decision has been made, the decision is not to allow them to enter," Hotovely said, according to Reuters.

In a statement released by his office and obtained by The Associated Press, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country "is open to all visitors and all criticism." However, he said, based on the congresswomen's itinerary, "it became clear that they are planning a trip whose sole purpose was strengthening the boycott and negating the legitimacy of Israel."

Tlaib and Omar have previously criticized Israel's treatment of Palestinians and showed support for a boycott.

Tlaib said in a statement released Thursday on Twitter that Israel's decision "is a sign of weakness (because) the truth of what is happening to Palestinians is frightening."

Omar decried the decision in a statement released Thursday afternoon, saying Netanyahu was "under pressure from President Donald Trump."

"Denying entry into Israel not only limits our ability to learn from Israelis, but also to enter the Palestinian territories," Omar said. "Sadly, this is not a surprise given the public positions of Prime Minister Netanyahu, who has consistently resisted peace efforts, restricted the freedom of movement of Palestinians, limited public knowledge of the brutal realities of the occupation and aligned himself with Islamophobes like Donald Trump."

The announcement came shortly after President Donald Trump urged Israeli officials to block the congresswomen's visit.

"They hate Israel & all Jewish people, & there is nothing that can be said or done to change their minds," Trump wrote in a Twitter post. "They are a disgrace!"

Trump has frequently targeted Tlaib and Omar, who last year became the first two Muslim women to serve in Congress.

It was not immediately clear whether the president's comments had any impact on the decision to bar the congresswomen.

Tlaib and Omar were scheduled to visit Israel from Sunday through Aug. 22, according to The Hill. They planned to visit a historical site in Jerusalem known to the Jewish people as Temple Mount and known by Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, the news site reported.

In a statement obtained by The Guardian, the group that organized Tlaib and Omar's trip called the decision the block the pair "an affront to the American people and their representatives."

"It is an assault on the Palestinian people's right to reach out to decision-makers and other actors from around the world," MIFTAH's board of directors said, according to The Guardian. "This ban is a clear case of discrimination and hostility based on political views and ethnic background, deserving of moral indignation and unequivocal condemnation in Palestine and the United States."

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