Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, U.S. Politics and the Future of Palestine
Shortly after she was elected to Congress in November 2018, Representative Rashida Tlaib announced that she would forgo the traditional congressional summer junket to Israel sponsored by AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) and lead an alternative congressional delegation to Israel/Palestine herself. Ultimately, only Representative Ilhan Omar decided to join her.
They were scheduled to depart on August 16 for a tour of the West Bank under the auspices of Miftah, the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy, founded by the veteran Palestinian political leader, peace negotiator, and civil society activist Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, who was denied entry to the United States earlier this year and to meet with Palestinian and Israeli human rights activists. Tlaib also expected to visit her sity (grandma), who lives in the small village of Beit ‘Ur al-Foqa near Ramallah. …