BDS and two (Muslim) US Congresswomen

I.

Two Congresswomen, who are accused by Israel as supporters of BDS, have been barred from entering Israel. An Israeli law enables it to bar supporters of the boycott movement from entering the country. It is stupid but I see no real issue with a country deciding who it will not allow to enter. Israel, however, also controls the borders of both Gaza strip and the West Bank. Thus, it decides who Palestinians are allowed to meet. That, of course, is scandalous: Millions of Palestinians in a sort of open-air prison.

II.

Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar were not joining one of the hundreds of trips, which US politicians have been taken on for years, organised by AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby, and the Israeli government. They were planning to visit the West Bank. They wanted to visit this open-air prison. Had they been allowed to enter, they would have learned about the reality of life in the territories under Israeli control. They would have seen how deceitful the propaganda network is (they always are).

III.

For Netanyahu, this whole affair was bad news. And yet barring US Congresswomen was problematic. He therefore decided to permit entry to the two Congresswomen. And then Trump called, and… Netanyahu dutifully changed his mind.

IV.

The question Americans must ask themselves and their representatives is, why do no other US Representatives and Senators make the effort to truly inform themselves. Are the American legislators neglecting their duty? After all, $3.8 BILLION of American taxpayers’ money is given unconditionally to Israel per annum. Is seeing only one side of the picture, their notion of democracy?

V.

And talking of democracy: Israel’s Minister of Interior Aryeh Deri, was approached by Representative Rashida Tlaib, for permission to visit her 90-something year-old grandmother, who lives in the occupied West Bank. Deri approved the request, on condition of good behaviour, and then Tlaib decided not to travel. Deri’s reaction to Tlaib’s decision not to accept his offer, was: "Apparently her hate for Israel overcomes her love for her grandmother."

Tlaib explained “Silencing me & treating me like a criminal is not what she wants for me. It would kill a piece of me. I have decided that visiting my grandmother under these oppressive conditions stands against everything I believe in—”

To understand where Minister Deri comes from, one needs to know that he is a convicted criminal. An Israeli court had found him guilty of corruption and bribery and had sentenced him for three years in prison. He must be dumbfounded by politicians, who put their political work and values before their own and their family’s business interests. Not something that he would do.

So why is corrupt Deri a senior member of Netanyahu’s cabinet? Simple: He came out of jail and the electorate of the Sephardi religious party, a senior partner in Netanyahu’s cabinet, promptly re-elected him. Corruption wins.

Muslim Congresswoman forced to apologise

Ms. Ilhan Omar, the newly elected Democrat Congresswoman from Minnesota, made the gravest error a politician in the US can make: she pointed out to the fact that pro-Israel lobby money is behind US politicians’ unquestioning support of Israel.

She soon enough got her first lesson in how American democracy functions.  She was hit by a shitstorm, in which even her own party deserted her and forced her to apologise.

Omar apologised, yet cleverly added “At the same time, I reaffirm the problematic role of lobbyists in our politics, whether it be AIPAC, the NRA or the fossil fuel industry.” 

AIPAC probably did not even have to work hard to enforce Ms. Omar’s apology. Her “colleagues”, who are all drip funded – some more, some very much more – by a variety of lobbies, do not want this funding shindig to be scrutinised, or god-forbid, to ever end.  

Is it permitted to say that the NRA gun-lobby buys influence with money, but prohibited to say the same thing about AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby – just because of the anti-Semitic trope about Jews and money? So, what can one say about AIPAC? Preferably nothing, must be the answer.

I have no idea whether Ms. Omar is an anti-Semite or not but calling out AIPAC and pointing to their influence is not anti-Semitic. Forcing Omar to apologise is dishonest and shameful.