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Israel Was Right to Ban Tlaib and Omar
(Forward) Ari Hoffman - The decision to deny Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib entry to Israel was the right call. Omar and Tlaib were visiting Israel to do it harm. Their visit was not one of critical engagement. Tlaib and Omar demand both their cake and the right to consume it: Yes to boycotting, and yes to visiting. Yes to indulgence in anti-Semitic tropes and fellow travelers, and yes to unfettered access to the State of the Jews. Yes to their Congressional prerogatives, and no to joining a bi-partisan group that just visited Israel, and spent time in Ramallah considering both sides in the conflict. In truth, they were not visiting Israel at all. Their itinerary was to a fantasy where Israel does not exist yet is simultaneously an oppressor and catastrophe, where Palestinians are endlessly victimized and nuance and complexity is not on the agenda. The organization funding their trip, Miftah, was founded by Hanan Ashrawi, who has slandered Israel as a hotbed of "colonialism, apartheid, and racism." [In May, Ashrawi was denied a visa to enter the U.S. (CNN)] Building Israel is a project, and there is a simultaneous project to destroy Israel. If you cannot speak our name, and you treat us as a pariah, and you refuse to talk to our leaders, you are not welcome.