Monday at a press conference in St. Paul, MN, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu banning both herself and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) from visiting Israel after President Donald Trump tweeting they should be denied entry is an attempt to hid “the cruel reality of the occupation,” of Palestine.
Omar said, “I’m grateful for the solidarity shown by so many of my colleagues in Congress. I understand and appreciate the calls for members to avoid traveling to Israel and until Rashida and I are allowed to go without condition. But it is my belief that as an obligation to see the reality there for ourselves. We have a responsibility to conduct oversight over our government’s foreign policy and what happens with the millions of dollars we send in aid. So I would encourage my colleagues going to meet with, see the things we were going to see. Hear the stories we were going to hear. We cannot let Trump and Netanyahu succeed in hiding the cruel reality of the occupation from us. So I call on all of you to go. The occupation is real.”
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