NEW YORK, August 15, 2019: The American Freedom of Defense Initiative (AFDI), one of the leading human rights organizations in the United States, on Thursday applauded the Israeli government’s decision to ban Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) from entering the country.
The Israeli government announced that Tlaib and Omar would be banned due to “suspected provocations and promotion” of the neo-Nazi Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
AFDI President Pamela Geller said in a statement: “There is no doubt that Omar and Tlaib would promote BDS in Israel. These two vicious antisemites have repeatedly called for a boycott of the Jewish state. Why would Israel welcome them? They would spread Palestinian jihad propaganda. Israel is under no obligation to admit people who are dedicated to its destruction, and who would work to weaken the Jewish state.”
Geller added: “Tlaib and Omar would surely post lies and blood libels about the Jewish state on social media, for the purpose of increasing the popularity of the BDS Movement in the United States. Such posts would also endanger pro-Israel American Jews, particularly on college campuses. Why should the Israeli government allow these two neo-Nazi thugs to slander Israel and the Jewish people? Nothing positive can be achieved from such a propaganda trip. Accordingly, AFDI applauds the Israeli government’s decision.”
The AFDI President also criticized the Jewish Democrats who are criticizing Israel for banning Tlaib and Omar, stating: “This is why the BDS Movement is spreading. This is why the Democrat Party has become anti-Israel. It is because Jewish organizations in the United States are incompetent cowards, and don’t know how to fight a war. Let these Jewish Democrats visit a college campus where the BDS Movement thrives. Let them ask the Jewish students who are being terrorized on campus by members of the BDS Movement, if they think that it is a bad idea for Israel to ban Tlaib and Omar from entering Israel.”
AFDI is dedicated to the defense and strengthening of the freedom of speech, the freedom of conscience, the equality of rights of all people before the law, and individual rights.