In a move that was entirely predictable from the outset, Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib (MI) and Ilhan Omar (MN) on Monday brought up the idea during their press conference that the U.S. should reconsider giving aid to Israel after the country barred them from entry last Thursday on security grounds.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) pushed back on them on Twitter Tuesday, which we’ll get to in a minute. But first, a recap of what Omar said Monday about funding.
During the presser, where Tlaib broke down in tears describing how as a child she had to watch her mother go through “dehumanizing checkpoints” in order to visit relatives, Omar floated the idea of the U.S. cutting off aid to Israel:
Omar said U.S. aid to Israel should be tied to how Palestinians are treated.
“Fortunately, we the United States have a constructive role to play. We give Israel more than $3 million in aid every year. This is predicated on their being an important ally in the region and the only democracy in the Middle East, but denying a visit to duly elected members of Congress is not consistent with being an ally, and denying millions of people freedom of movement or expression or self-determination is not consistent with being a democracy,” she said.
“We must be asking, as Israel’s ally, the Netanyahu government stop the expansion of settlements on Palestinian land, and ensure full rights for Palestinians if we are to give them aid. These are not just my views. These are the views held by the range of experts, peace advocates on this issue. We know Donald Trump would love nothing more than to use this issue to pit Muslims and Jewish Americans against each other,” she added.
Whatever anyone wants to say about Omar and Tlaib (and The Squad in general), they have turned deceiving gullible people (their supporters and the media) by operating on the pretense of wanting peace and harmony between the Jews and Palestinians into almost an art form.
When Omar first announced several weeks ago that she and Tlaib were planning this trip, you better believe they both knew in advance about Israel’s anti-BDS law that forbids anyone promoting the anti-Semitic BDS movement entry into their country.
That their request to visit Israel was denied wasn’t a surprise to anyone. It certainly wasn’t to the two Congresswomen who pretend that supporting a hate group that doesn’t believe Israel has the right to exist, and accusing Jews of dual loyalty and buying off lawmakers can’t possibly be anti-Semitism.
Clearly both Omar and Tlaib manipulated the situation to their advantage, but not everyone is falling for it.
One person most definitely not falling for it is Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who has been a vocal critic of The Squad’s tactics in the past. He responded to their push to cut off funding for Israel by saying we should actually give them more:
Congresswomen @RashidaTlaib and @IlhanMN Omar are calling on Congress to reconsider aid to Israel?
I have.
It’s time to provide MORE assistance to Israel for their missile defense program.https://t.co/F9qsoOx6i8
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) August 20, 2019
In two more tweets, he explained why:
The threats from Iran — to our close friend and ally Israel — are only growing.
Iran has already broken enrichment conditions regarding their nuclear program.
The Iranians are a bad actor in the region, sowing discord at every turn.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) August 20, 2019
Graham has taken several trips to Israel this year. One was in March to discuss the Golan Heights issue. Another was in July, where he stated he wanted “to see the lay of the land, how’s their inventory of missiles holding up, and I think we need more missile funding not less.”
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— Based in North Carolina, Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter. –
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