Rashida Tlaib decides not to visit grandmother after Israel allows her to

Interior Minister Arye Deri: "Apparently her hate for Israel overcomes her love for her grandmother."

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) shares a fist bump with Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) (photo credit: REUTERS/JIM BOURG)
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) shares a fist bump with Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI)
(photo credit: REUTERS/JIM BOURG)
"Apparently her hate for Israel overcomes her love for her grandmother," said Interior Minister Arye Deri on Twitter on Friday evening after learning that US Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has decided to cancel her trip.

Tlaib made her announcement Friday on Twitter.
The tweet said, "Silencing me & treating me like a criminal is not what she wants for me. It would kill a piece of me. I have decided that visiting my grandmother under these oppressive conditions stands against everything I believe in -- fighting against racism, oppression & injustice."

Tlaib did not say what the restrictions that were going to be imposed on her would be but reports say that she was not allowed to promote BDS while in the country.

The Israeli government decided to block Tlaib and congresswoman Ilhan Omar from entering Israel. The two were supposed to be leading a formal delegation to Israel beginning Sunday. 
Tlaib and Omar have both shown support for the BDS movement and the Israeli government can deny entry to Israel to anyone who supports the movement by law.
After the decision, Tlaib wrote a formal request to be able to visit her grandmother, who lives in Beit Ur al-Fouqa. Her request was approved earlier on Friday by the Interior Ministry.