And here’s another flashback: Remember when the Obama Administration temporarily banned all U.S. –based flights to Israel because of “security concerns,” and Hamas declared it a big “victory” ?
So maybe Joe Biden should have just sat this one out, rather than jumping in to comment on Israel’s decision to bar Omar and Tlaib from entering Israel on their “Palestine” trip, sponsored by the anti-Semitic, pro-terror Miftah group.
In the midst of the hot takes offered up by the 2020 Democrat candidates when the two anti-Semitic U.S. congresswomen were denied entry into Israel, the guy at the front of the pack was quickly reminded that former President Obama’s administration made a similar decision.
Joe Biden posted a tweet meant to criticize the Israeli government’s decision. He said he is a supporter of Israel but no one should be denied entry into a democratic state over “ideas”. “No democracy should deny entry to visitors based on the content of their ideas”, he said.
I have always been a stalwart supporter of Israel—a vital partner that shares our democratic values. No democracy should deny entry to visitors based on the content of their ideas—even ideas they strongly object to. And no leader of the free world should encourage them to do so.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 15, 2019
Under normal circumstances, this would be a reasonable opinion from an American accustomed to First Amendment rights. In the case of congresswomen Tlaib, however, the fact that an organization that is known for supporting the BDS movement and the elimination of Israel was sponsoring her trip certainly played a role in the decision. When it became clear that Tlaib’s motivation was to go to Israel and provoke controversy on behalf of Palestine, it shouldn’t be surprising that denial of entry was made.
Hey, remember that time that the Obama administration made a similar decision? As a matter of fact, the Obama administration made a similar move in 2012 when the State Department denied entry to a member of the Israeli Knesset….
Remember that time the Obama administration barred a member of Israeli Knesset from entering the United States in 2012? Because you were vice president at the time. https://t.co/kBl47NJ9Tn
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 15, 2019
In that case, the person denied a visa to enter the United States to attend a conference was Michael Ben Ari. The reason given was that, according to the State Department, Ben Ari had ties to a terrorist group. This idea centered around Ben Ari’s conservative views and actions. He follows Kahanism ideology which means he believes that Arabs shouldn’t be living in Israel and shouldn’t have voting rights in Israel. The Kach party has been banned by the Israeli government and the U.S. State Department has labeled it a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
Michael Ben Ari’s denial of entry would fall into the same category as Tlaib’s since both were denied due to their political statements. Yet Biden only voiced objection to one and that happened in the course of his Democrat primary campaign….
Boris Johnson’s girlfriend barred from the US over visit to Somaliland
