Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib broke down as she addressed her previous trips to Israel during a Monday press conference with Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar about the Israeli government barring them from entry.
“As a young girl visiting Palestine to visit my grandparents and extended family I watched as my mother had to go through dehumanizing check points, even though she was a United States citizen and proud American,” Tlaib said through tears. “I was there when my sitty was in a terrible car accident and my cousins and I cried so she could have access to the best hospitals, which were in Jerusalem.”
She continued, “I remember shaking with fear when check points appeared in the small village of Beit Ur al-Fauqa, tanks and guns everywhere. I remember visiting East Jerusalem with my then-husband and him escorted off the bus, although he was a United States citizen, just so security forces could harass him.”
Israel forbid Tlaib and Omar from entering the country last week, citing a law that allows them to deny entry to anyone who has publicly supported a boycott of the Jewish state.
