Since her election to the US Congress on 6 November 2018, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian woman elected to Congress, has announced that she will organize a tour of several of her fellow lawmakers to visit the West Bank, Organized by the Israeli lobby "AIPAC" every two years to visit Israel on a paid trip, during which they undergo an intensive stream of "normalization and conviction" of the Israeli narrative one-sided, which angered some leaders in its Democratic Party, where the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the Council of Intent , Eliot Engel (Democrat of New York) said in a statement to the site, "the Monitor" this week, he strongly stands against a delegation to visit the West Bank.
"Instead of talking about things," said Engel, one of the most American politicians associated with AIPAC, "she is new here. She has to listen, learn and open her mind, and then come to some conclusions." I hope that once you are elected to Congress, you will at least be interested in seeing the other side of the coin. "
It is noted that in order to organize an official delegation from Congress, the legislator must obtain approval from the Speaker of the House of Representatives or the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Tillib does not belong to the Engel Committee (Foreign Affairs), where his foreign affairs opinion is heavily weighed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of the commission.
Since the announcement of MP Tlaib support for the movement of the boycott of Israel and the withdrawal of investments and sanctions BDS and is subjected to intensive attacks and systematic by the Israeli lobby, "AIPAC" and many of its fellow lawmakers in the Democratic Party, along with all members of the Republican Party, who consider Tlaib a threat to their absolute support for the policies of occupation Israeli conflict. The only other member of Congress who supports BDS, MP Elhan Omar, is on the Engel Committee for targeted attacks from AIPAC, which she accused of anti-Semitism, although she has not yet raised the issue of touring the occupied West Bank.
It is noteworthy that MP Tlaib hinted to in an interview last month with the site "Entspt" that it may cooperate with the leftist (left) advocacy groups to fund the planned tour of the West Bank.
Tillib´s opponents from her Democratic Party in the House of Representatives have begun to press the council´s leadership, Nancy Pelos, and her deputy Steny Hoyar, known for his absolute support for AIPAC, to reject Rachida Taleb´s request and frustrate it before it begins. Rep. Bryan Papin (Republican), from Texas, sent letters to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and all other committee leaders asking them not to approve Tlaib´s request, Politeko reported earlier this month.
When you have a [congressional delegation] in particular (going to visit) one of the biggest threats to Israel, then I think that could pose some threat and risk, "Babin told the Monitor website. With regard to the US-Israeli relationship, "without explaining why the visit of the West Bank by the US Congress is a threat to Israel.
The Texas Republican also argued that the use of a slanderous word when calling for the removal of US President Donald Trump makes her an inappropriate figure for dialogue with foreign figures.
Babin noted that the two-party "AIPAC" flights, which he participated in four years ago, include visits to the West Bank and meetings with the Palestinian Authority, which in the West Bank part is limited to Bethlehem and Ramallah.
"They certainly do not want MP Taleb to take the deputies on a tour of the West Bank, where they will see the checkpoints, extreme poverty, the repression of the Israeli army that is being violated daily by the Palestinians, or the separation wall, which is rising in some places," said a senior congressional official who asked not to be identified. "I saw that when I was a student, and the picture still occupies an important place in my memory - they do not want it."
AIPAC spent more than $ 2 million to send lawmakers and staff to Israel at the last Congressional session (2017 and 2018) at its destination, the American-Israeli Education Foundation (AIEF). Trips usually take place during the summer vacation in August.
According to LegiStorm audit and accounting offices, the AIPAC interface spent $ 440,000 in rounds for 40 lawmakers and employees last year, according to the company. AIEF maintains a financial surplus of $ 963,000 for the year.
The newspaper "Jerusalem" that the billionaire supporter of the settlement movement Sheldon Adelson "allocated large sums for the success of these tours to Israel and thwart the attempts of Taleb."
Other legislators have tried to organize tours of the West Bank in the past. A group of Progressive Democrats - Rep. Marc Buchan, a Democrat from Wisconsin, Daniel Keldy, a Michigan Democrat, and Hank Johnson of Georgia tried last year, Arranged a tour to the besieged Gaza Strip in vain, because the Republican leadership in Congress rejected it.
The drama of the House of Representatives, where the Senate is preparing to pass a bill aimed at criminalizing the BDS movement despite constitutional concerns, is being undermined by the first infringement of the US Constitution after AIPAC overtook the Senate, 22. However, BDS legislation remains a controversial issue in the Democratic Rally - even if the vast majority does not support the same boycott movement.
A recent survey by the University of Maryland found that 56 percent of Democrats favor stronger sanctions or measures against Israel if it continues to expand its settlements in the West Bank. A group of Democrats responded to Israel´s eroded support on the left by forming a new lobby group to call for Israel´s interest, and support for lawmakers and presidential candidates who espouse pro-Israel positions in the 2020 elections.
