Israel’s interior minister has approved a humanitarian request from Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., to visit the West Bank just hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Tlaib and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., were barred from entering this weekend due to their support of an anti-Israel boycott movement.
In a letter sent to Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, Tlaib requested being able to visit her Palestinian grandmother who lives in the West Bank, according to the Jerusalem Post.
This woman right here is my sity. She deserves to live in peace & with human dignity. I am who I am because of her. The decision by Israel to bar her granddaughter, a U.S. Congresswoman, is a sign of weakness b/c the truth of what is happening to Palestinians is frightening. pic.twitter.com/GGcFLiH9N3
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) August 15, 2019
“This could be my last opportunity to see her,” Tlaib wrote of her grandmother, who is in her 90s. “I will respect any restrictions and I will not promote any boycotts against Israel during my visit.”
When Tlaib and Omar were barred Thursday for their support of the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS), the government said it would accept a humanitarian request from Tlaib but Omar would not be allowed into the country.
Netanyahu’s official Twitter account said Thursday the congresswomen’s itinerary “revealed that they planned a visit whose sole objective is to strengthen the boycott against us and deny Israel’s legitimacy.”
Many Democratic and Republican lawmakers have spoken out against Israel’s decision.
Before Netanyahu made the announcement, President Trump tweeted that allowing them in would show “great weakness.”
Tlaib is expected to visit the country between Aug. 18-24, The Jerusalem Post reported.
