Rep. Omar: Israel Is Implementing Trump’s Muslim Ban By Banning Us

UNITED STATES - JULY 15: Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., arrives for a news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center responding to negative comments by President Trump that were directed at the freshmen House Democrats on Monday, July 15, 2019. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) arrives for a news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center on July 15, 2019. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
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Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) on Thursday responded to news that she and Rep. Rashida Tlaib would be barred from entering Israel after President Trump urged the country to keep them out.

In short, she called the decision an implementation of President Trump’s Muslim ban in Israel. She called out Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his past efforts to curb public information about the brutality of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and for aligning himself with “Islamophobes like Donald Trump.”

“The irony of the ‘only democracy’ in the Middle East making such a decision is that it is both an insult to democratic values and a chilling response to a visit by government officials from an allied nation,” she said.

Tlaib’s office did not immediately return TPM’s request for comment. The two lawmakers were planning to visit the West Bank beginning Sunday with an organization headed by a Palestinian lawmaker. Trump has urged Netanyahu, both publicly and privately, to not allow the congresswomen — whom he has picked a personal feud with — into the nation.

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