The whole thing was a setup from the start. Only the terminally naive will be surprised.
“Don’t Be Fooled, Omar and Tlaib Maliciously Set Up Israel Ban,” by Katie Pavlich, Townhall, August 16, 2019:
On July 17, 2019, Democrat Congresswoman Ilhan Omar introduced a pro-BDS movement resolution on Capitol Hill. Her colleague, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, co-sponsored the resolution and compared the Israeli treatment of Palestinians to how the Nazis treated European Jews during World War II. She made the horrific and false accusation during a speech on the House floor.
One day later, Omar and Tlaib announced they were planning a trip to Israel. Coincidence? Hardly.
The order and timing of events here is crucial and proves their goading of Israeli officials was a set up from the beginning.
Omar and Tlaib know Israel has longstanding law and policy barring supporters of the BDS movement from entering the country. It is regularly deployed against BDS activists.
By introducing a pro-BDS resolution in Congress and then a day later announcing a planned trip to Israel, they knew their chances of getting rejected by the Israeli government were high, if not guaranteed.
This enabled them to put Israel in a difficult position with two choices: 1. Violate the law by giving them special treatment and then allowing them to actively campaign against the country’s existence and interests within its own borders 2. Reject them and be accused of bigotry and racism, defacto “proving” allegations from Omar and Tlaib about bigotry, apartheid and unequal treatment. In other words, bad PR. This lose-lose scenario was purposely provided in bad faith.
There are other indicators Omar’s and Tlaib’s announced trip to Israel was carefully calculated.
Just last week a congressional delegation of 72 lawmakers, Democrats and Republicans, made an official trip to Israel. They met with Prime Minister Netanyahu and leaders of the Palestinian Authority. Omar and Tlaib refused to go. Instead, they developed their own itinerary and titled it “U.S. Congressional Delegation to Palestine.” Omar and Tlaib don’t believe Israel has a right to exist, so much so they couldn’t bear writing down the country’s name….