After Israel barred Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Rep. Ilhan Omar from entering the country, critics were quick to slam the congresswomen’s planned tour for including an anti-Israel, and, quite frankly, anti-Semitic, group in their itinerary. But my most recent trip to Israel showed me that attacking visitors for their willingness to hear fringe voices isn’t actually the correct approach.
One month ago, I departed on my fourth guided tour of Israel. Unlike my other trips, this one was intended to show my group of young students, political staffers, and educators both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
On our first day, we were told that the speakers we would meet were on “opposite sides of the river” and were warned we’d likely be uncomfortable meeting these radical speakers — and that was a good thing. I realized the trip organizers were serious when halfway through the trip we were taken to Ramallah, and a senior Palestinian Liberation Organization official looked me dead in the eye and unapologetically told me that Hamas is not a terrorist organization (it most certainly is).
This was a stark contrast to my previous trips to Israel, which were either Zionist in their bent or more moderate. This past one, with the Philos Project, challenged my views and introduced me to ideologies I didn’t even know existed.
I met with people as disparate as Arab Christians persecuted by Hamas and a man dubbed the “Palestinian Gandhi.” Meanwhile, I saw Christians trying to reinvigorate the Aramaic identity and language, one-state supporters, two-state supporters, victims of terrorism, families who had their children killed by the Israeli Defense Force, Hamas sympathizers, people who want to rebuild the third temple, and even a professor who believes the CIA created ISIS.
This was a holistic trip, and it offered me an invaluable, true exposure to the conflict.
Meanwhile, Tlaib and Omar’s planned trip was organized by Miftah, a Palestinian nongovernmental organization that supports the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement, has praised Palestinian suicide bombers, and even published a false, anti-Semitic claim that Jews kill Christian children to use their blood for Passover.
But conservatives must realize that the problem is not Omar and Tlaib wanting to work with this group, because it would offer a real perspective on the conflict, even if it comes from a place of hatred. I found my meetings with radicals especially interesting and engaging because they were passionate about what they believed in and did not hold back. One cannot truly understand the conflict unless they are exposed to all voices involved, no matter how distasteful.
And in reality, there are hate-filled radicals on both sides. These perspectives are real and are worth highlighting, albeit not worth making a focal point of your entire trip to the region.
My hope would be that Tlaib and Omar would have detected the bias and questionable opinions of this organization and sought out more perspectives. But with both of their track records of anti-Semitism and blind opposition to Israel, it’s likely the two planned on staying on their side of the river to reinforce their perspective, without hearing opposing views. Unfortunately, their itinerary lacked a comprehensive sample of the key players in the conflict. In fact, not a single Israeli official was included.
This reveals that their proposed trip was always a stunt born of ill will. Tlaib and Omar may be activists engaging with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but their unwillingness to hear all the sides involved shows that they are not true leaders.
Kassy Dillon is the founder of Lone Conservative, an online platform for college conservatives. She’s also studying for a master’s degree at Pepperdine University and is a contributor to the Washington Examiner‘s Beltway Confidential blog.
