15 aug 2019
California state capitol
Jewish lawmakers say the proposed curriculum focuses on targeting Islamophobia but ignores anti-Semitism and has song lyrics supporting the idea of Jews controlling the media; while conservatives criticize the curriculum for describing capitalism as a 'form of oppression'
California's effort to write the nation's first ethnic studies curriculum for public schools has united liberals and conservatives: They think it's terrible.
Jewish lawmakers complained that the proposed lessons are anti-Semitic, while a conservative critic says capitalism is presented as a "form of power and oppression." The clash comes as a law requires the state to adopt ethnic studies, which view history through the lens of diverse cultures.
State Superintendent Tony Thurmond said Wednesday that he will recommend changes to better reflect the contributions of Jewish Americans and remove sections that the California Legislative Jewish Caucus finds objectionable.
"We really need some significant changes, if not to go back to square one," said Democratic state Sen. Ben Allen of Santa Monica, the caucus chairman. "Our concern is that the draft curriculum, as currently written, would literally institutionalize the teaching of anti-Semitic stereotypes in our public schools."
For instance, the proposed curriculum has lessons on identifying Islamophobia and other forms of discrimination but does not include ways to identify anti-Semitism. Song lyrics included in the draft also seem to support the stereotype that Jews control the news media, the caucus said.
"It would be a cruel irony if a curriculum meant to help alleviate prejudice and bigotry were to instead marginalize Jewish students and fuel hatred and discrimination against the Jewish community," the 14 caucus members said in a recent letter.
Jewish lawmakers said that's a particular danger following a rise in hate crimes against California Jews last year and recent attacks on synagogues, including one in April. A 19-year-old gunman told investigators he was motivated by Jewish hatred when he killed a woman and wounded two other people, including a rabbi, at the Chabad of Poway synagogue near San Diego.
"Children are not born as bigots, and so it's critically important that we get this curriculum right," said Democratic Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson of Santa Barbara.
State Superintendent Tony Thurmond said the omission of Jewish contributions was not intentional but that ethnic studies traditionally have focused on African Americans, Latinos, Asian and Pacific Islanders and indigenous people.
He and Jewish lawmakers said there have been other requests to include Hindus and a section on the Armenian genocide. Allen suggested that white Europeans might learn empathy for immigrants today if there were a section on the discrimination that Italian and Irish nationals once faced in the U.S.
"There's no limit on groups who have experienced oppression," Thurmond said.
In 2016, then-Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, signed a law requiring the state to adopt an ethnic studies curriculum by March 31, 2020. Thurmond said he is likely to ask lawmakers to extend the deadline.
Earlier this year, state officials completed a draft of the curriculum written by a panel of mostly classroom teachers.
The proposed curriculum went to a Board of Education advisory commission in May, and it's seeking public comments through Thursday. Commission members will consider the comments and changes at public hearings in Sacramento next month.
Board leaders said in statement that the curriculum "should be accurate (and) free of bias," acknowledging that "the current draft model curriculum falls short and needs to be substantially redesigned."
The law doesn't require schools to adopt the final version, but legislation approved by the state Assembly and awaiting a vote in the Senate would make the course a requirement to graduate from high school.
Aside from the Jewish lawmakers' concerns, conservative researcher Williamson Evers said California wants to teach kids that capitalism is racist.
Evers, a research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution and a former assistant education secretary under former President George W. Bush, said in a Wall Street Journal opinion column that the draft includes capitalism as a "form of power and oppression" in an apparently "left wing" approach to the classroom.
Thurmond said he wasn't offering changes to address that criticism. Democratic Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel of Encino, vice chairman of the Jewish caucus, said that too needs to be fixed because it reflects a "fundamentally flawed curriculum" that "feels a lot more like indoctrination."
"We know that it's very personal. History is very personal, ethnic studies is very personal, so we know and understand that this is difficult," said Stephanie Gregson, director of the curriculum division at the state education department.
Gregson called Evers' criticisms a mischaracterization that's taken "out of context."
But she said the department is planning changes after recognizing that the draft curriculum does not meet state guidelines of inclusivity and "creating space for all students, regardless of race, ethnicity, class or gender."
Jewish lawmakers say the proposed curriculum focuses on targeting Islamophobia but ignores anti-Semitism and has song lyrics supporting the idea of Jews controlling the media; while conservatives criticize the curriculum for describing capitalism as a 'form of oppression'
California's effort to write the nation's first ethnic studies curriculum for public schools has united liberals and conservatives: They think it's terrible.
Jewish lawmakers complained that the proposed lessons are anti-Semitic, while a conservative critic says capitalism is presented as a "form of power and oppression." The clash comes as a law requires the state to adopt ethnic studies, which view history through the lens of diverse cultures.
State Superintendent Tony Thurmond said Wednesday that he will recommend changes to better reflect the contributions of Jewish Americans and remove sections that the California Legislative Jewish Caucus finds objectionable.
"We really need some significant changes, if not to go back to square one," said Democratic state Sen. Ben Allen of Santa Monica, the caucus chairman. "Our concern is that the draft curriculum, as currently written, would literally institutionalize the teaching of anti-Semitic stereotypes in our public schools."
For instance, the proposed curriculum has lessons on identifying Islamophobia and other forms of discrimination but does not include ways to identify anti-Semitism. Song lyrics included in the draft also seem to support the stereotype that Jews control the news media, the caucus said.
"It would be a cruel irony if a curriculum meant to help alleviate prejudice and bigotry were to instead marginalize Jewish students and fuel hatred and discrimination against the Jewish community," the 14 caucus members said in a recent letter.
Jewish lawmakers said that's a particular danger following a rise in hate crimes against California Jews last year and recent attacks on synagogues, including one in April. A 19-year-old gunman told investigators he was motivated by Jewish hatred when he killed a woman and wounded two other people, including a rabbi, at the Chabad of Poway synagogue near San Diego.
"Children are not born as bigots, and so it's critically important that we get this curriculum right," said Democratic Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson of Santa Barbara.
State Superintendent Tony Thurmond said the omission of Jewish contributions was not intentional but that ethnic studies traditionally have focused on African Americans, Latinos, Asian and Pacific Islanders and indigenous people.
He and Jewish lawmakers said there have been other requests to include Hindus and a section on the Armenian genocide. Allen suggested that white Europeans might learn empathy for immigrants today if there were a section on the discrimination that Italian and Irish nationals once faced in the U.S.
"There's no limit on groups who have experienced oppression," Thurmond said.
In 2016, then-Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, signed a law requiring the state to adopt an ethnic studies curriculum by March 31, 2020. Thurmond said he is likely to ask lawmakers to extend the deadline.
Earlier this year, state officials completed a draft of the curriculum written by a panel of mostly classroom teachers.
The proposed curriculum went to a Board of Education advisory commission in May, and it's seeking public comments through Thursday. Commission members will consider the comments and changes at public hearings in Sacramento next month.
Board leaders said in statement that the curriculum "should be accurate (and) free of bias," acknowledging that "the current draft model curriculum falls short and needs to be substantially redesigned."
The law doesn't require schools to adopt the final version, but legislation approved by the state Assembly and awaiting a vote in the Senate would make the course a requirement to graduate from high school.
Aside from the Jewish lawmakers' concerns, conservative researcher Williamson Evers said California wants to teach kids that capitalism is racist.
Evers, a research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution and a former assistant education secretary under former President George W. Bush, said in a Wall Street Journal opinion column that the draft includes capitalism as a "form of power and oppression" in an apparently "left wing" approach to the classroom.
Thurmond said he wasn't offering changes to address that criticism. Democratic Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel of Encino, vice chairman of the Jewish caucus, said that too needs to be fixed because it reflects a "fundamentally flawed curriculum" that "feels a lot more like indoctrination."
"We know that it's very personal. History is very personal, ethnic studies is very personal, so we know and understand that this is difficult," said Stephanie Gregson, director of the curriculum division at the state education department.
Gregson called Evers' criticisms a mischaracterization that's taken "out of context."
But she said the department is planning changes after recognizing that the draft curriculum does not meet state guidelines of inclusivity and "creating space for all students, regardless of race, ethnicity, class or gender."
13 aug 2019
The Big Ride for Palestine in London, on 27 July 2019
Last week the Palestine Solidarity Campaign revealed that a council in East London had banned the use of any of its parks by a charity bike ride for Palestinian kids.
The Big Ride for Palestine holds annual sponsored events in London and Manchester to raise money for Palestinian children’s charities.
This year its chosen cause was the Middle East Children’s Alliance, which focuses on the mental health of those traumatised living under Israel’s vicious military dictatorship.
It has raised tens of thousands of pounds for such good causes over the years.
Organisers back in March had gone through the whole rigmarole of filling in the necessary applications to use Tower Hamlets’ public parks for the final rally for the event.
It took more than a month’s worth of follow-up emails for council officers to finally give their reply to the organisers’ application: it was declined.
The reasons given seemed nebulous – “rallies with political connotations” were deemed “problematic” especially if one of the speakers was to “say something controversial”.
The email also talked vaguely about “community cohesion and equality issues.”
Nothing in the email, however, mentioned alleged anti-Semitism, or the discredited IHRA “working definition” of anti-Semitism – which the council adopted last year.
Organisers, however, smelled a rat. The Palestine Solidarity Campaign then put in a freedom of information request, and eventually obtained 158 pages worth of council officers’ emails discussing the application.
They reveal the real reason for the council barring the event from using any of its public parks or open spaces.
The stated justification in the refusal email to organisers – that “rallies with political connotations” are not allowed on council facilities – was a smokescreen.
(This was transparently untrue in any case – Altab Ali park, which the Big Ride initially asked the council if it could use, has been used for rallies many times in the past, including by none other than Tower Hamlets’ own mayor, John Biggs, during his election campaign in 2015.)
The real reason was that council officers, in their infinite wisdom, had decided that the Big Ride for Palestine’s website was “anti-Semitic” based on the fact that it condemned “the crimes of the Israeli state” and spoke of “the parallels between apartheid South Africa and the state of Israel.”
The council manager in question ignored – seemingly deliberately – a sentence on the same webpage stating the group’s unequivocal opposition to anti-Semitism.
To justify this twisted and bizarre inversion of reality, the manager, Oudwa Idehen, invoked the IHRA “working definition” of anti-Semitism in some detail, claiming that the examples quoted from their website would “fall foul” of the document.
The definition was written by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, but based on a much older and almost identical discarded and discredited definition written by a US Israel lobbyist.
It is a confusing definition, far longer than would be necessary for any real anti-racist work. Even worse, several of its “examples” of anti-Semitism bring Israel into the mix, when not necessary.
The whole purpose of the document is to attack Palestine solidarity campaigning. This incident in Tower Hamlets makes that clearer than ever.
The Tory government in 2017 first put the pressure on local authorities to “formally adopt” the IHRA definition, even while admitting it has no legal standing.
But the Labour Party too has helped to censor Palestine solidarity by adopting this document. It did so last year, after a massive pressure campaign by the right-wing of the party, by many MPs, and by the Israel lobby.
All the while, critics in local communities and in the grassroots of the Labour Party were constantly gaslighted by the right and by the Israel lobby groups, and even by some figures on the Labour left, like Jon Lansman.
We were told we were making a fuss over nothing, and that the definition did not prohibit “legitimate” criticisms of “the Netanyahu government” that didn’t go beyond their permissible boundaries.
This was always a lie. But the evidence in Tower Hamlets is a slam dunk.
You could not imagine a more, cuddly, fluffy, family-friendly form of Palestine solidarity than the Big Ride to Palestine.
These was not the radical, hard left, anti-Zionist organisation of the Israel lobbyists’ fevered imaginations. This was simply a fun way to raise much-needed cash for a children charity – some of the most vulnerable children in the Middle East, if not in the world.
But for the anti-Palestinian racists behind the constant push to adopt the IHRA “working definition”, the problem is not the way solidarity with Palestine is expressed, it is the very existence of Palestine that is the problem.
And that is what the IHRA’s poisonous definition is all about – erasing any support for Palestine and Palestinian existence from this country.
Anyone concerned about resisting this, should therefore struggle to overthrow the IHRA definition it its entirety.
Last week the Palestine Solidarity Campaign revealed that a council in East London had banned the use of any of its parks by a charity bike ride for Palestinian kids.
The Big Ride for Palestine holds annual sponsored events in London and Manchester to raise money for Palestinian children’s charities.
This year its chosen cause was the Middle East Children’s Alliance, which focuses on the mental health of those traumatised living under Israel’s vicious military dictatorship.
It has raised tens of thousands of pounds for such good causes over the years.
Organisers back in March had gone through the whole rigmarole of filling in the necessary applications to use Tower Hamlets’ public parks for the final rally for the event.
It took more than a month’s worth of follow-up emails for council officers to finally give their reply to the organisers’ application: it was declined.
The reasons given seemed nebulous – “rallies with political connotations” were deemed “problematic” especially if one of the speakers was to “say something controversial”.
The email also talked vaguely about “community cohesion and equality issues.”
Nothing in the email, however, mentioned alleged anti-Semitism, or the discredited IHRA “working definition” of anti-Semitism – which the council adopted last year.
Organisers, however, smelled a rat. The Palestine Solidarity Campaign then put in a freedom of information request, and eventually obtained 158 pages worth of council officers’ emails discussing the application.
They reveal the real reason for the council barring the event from using any of its public parks or open spaces.
The stated justification in the refusal email to organisers – that “rallies with political connotations” are not allowed on council facilities – was a smokescreen.
(This was transparently untrue in any case – Altab Ali park, which the Big Ride initially asked the council if it could use, has been used for rallies many times in the past, including by none other than Tower Hamlets’ own mayor, John Biggs, during his election campaign in 2015.)
The real reason was that council officers, in their infinite wisdom, had decided that the Big Ride for Palestine’s website was “anti-Semitic” based on the fact that it condemned “the crimes of the Israeli state” and spoke of “the parallels between apartheid South Africa and the state of Israel.”
The council manager in question ignored – seemingly deliberately – a sentence on the same webpage stating the group’s unequivocal opposition to anti-Semitism.
To justify this twisted and bizarre inversion of reality, the manager, Oudwa Idehen, invoked the IHRA “working definition” of anti-Semitism in some detail, claiming that the examples quoted from their website would “fall foul” of the document.
The definition was written by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, but based on a much older and almost identical discarded and discredited definition written by a US Israel lobbyist.
It is a confusing definition, far longer than would be necessary for any real anti-racist work. Even worse, several of its “examples” of anti-Semitism bring Israel into the mix, when not necessary.
The whole purpose of the document is to attack Palestine solidarity campaigning. This incident in Tower Hamlets makes that clearer than ever.
The Tory government in 2017 first put the pressure on local authorities to “formally adopt” the IHRA definition, even while admitting it has no legal standing.
But the Labour Party too has helped to censor Palestine solidarity by adopting this document. It did so last year, after a massive pressure campaign by the right-wing of the party, by many MPs, and by the Israel lobby.
All the while, critics in local communities and in the grassroots of the Labour Party were constantly gaslighted by the right and by the Israel lobby groups, and even by some figures on the Labour left, like Jon Lansman.
We were told we were making a fuss over nothing, and that the definition did not prohibit “legitimate” criticisms of “the Netanyahu government” that didn’t go beyond their permissible boundaries.
This was always a lie. But the evidence in Tower Hamlets is a slam dunk.
You could not imagine a more, cuddly, fluffy, family-friendly form of Palestine solidarity than the Big Ride to Palestine.
These was not the radical, hard left, anti-Zionist organisation of the Israel lobbyists’ fevered imaginations. This was simply a fun way to raise much-needed cash for a children charity – some of the most vulnerable children in the Middle East, if not in the world.
But for the anti-Palestinian racists behind the constant push to adopt the IHRA “working definition”, the problem is not the way solidarity with Palestine is expressed, it is the very existence of Palestine that is the problem.
And that is what the IHRA’s poisonous definition is all about – erasing any support for Palestine and Palestinian existence from this country.
Anyone concerned about resisting this, should therefore struggle to overthrow the IHRA definition it its entirety.
4 aug 2019
Medics treat Palestinian children suffering from teargas inhalation. The Big Ride for Palestine says it focuses on helping the 300,000 children in Gaza showing signs of severe psychological distress
Tower Hamlets officials did not divulge real reason for turning down Big Ride for Palestine
Officials at a London council that refused to host a charity event in aid of Palestinian children did not tell the organisers the decision was based on fears their criticism of Israel could breach antisemitism guidelines, internal emails have revealed.
The exchanges among officials at Tower Hamlets council also reveal they thought the event should be turned down, in part because of the row over antisemitism in the Labour party.
The council told The Big Ride for Palestine, which has raised nearly £150,000 for sports equipment for children in Gaza since 2015, that the event’s “political connotations” meant that the closing rally of this year’s bike ride could not go ahead in the borough “without problems”.
Officials told organisers there was a risk speakers might express views which contradicted the council’s policies on community cohesion and equality.
Behind the scenes, council staff raised fears of a “real risk” that the event and its organisers could be seen to have breached the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism because of references on their website to apartheid and ethnic cleansing.
One official said there were concerns “not least because of the recent furour [sic] within the Labour party over Anti Semitism [sic]”.
When considering how to explain the decision, one council official said it would be wise to “avoid the anti Semitism aspect ref their website as this could open a can of worms and come back to bite us”. There was no reference to antisemitism in the email to the event’s organisers.
The internal emails, released after a freedom of information request by the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, revealed the council attempted to assess the Big Ride website according to the rubric of the controversial IHRA definition.
The emails showed concern among council officials over quotes on the Big Ride website that described the Israeli treatment of Palestinians as ethnic cleansing and drew parallels between Israeli policies and apartheid-era South Africa.
One section of the website said: “Active opposition to the crimes of the Israeli state is a responsibility, just as opposition to South African apartheid was a moral and political imperative for many”, while another said: “It’s blatantly obvious to recognise the parallels between Apartheid South Africa and the state of Israel ...
This is an Israeli issue, not a Jewish one, many Jewish friends oppose this oppression.”
Elsewhere, the ride was described as a protest “against 67 years of Israeli ethnic cleansing”.
The controversial IHRA definition warns “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour” constitutes antisemitism. It grew in prominence after the Labour party adopted a version that excluded some examples included in the original text.
The party ultimately adopted the full definition, alongside a statement specifying that nothing in it should “undermine freedom of expression on Israel or the rights of Palestinians”.
Critics say the definition potentially conflates legitimate criticism of Israel with racism. Its supporters view it as a means of helping organisations assess subtler forms of antisemitic abuse.
The emails show council staff had already decided the event could be refused on the grounds it was “controversial and sensitive” before calling on colleagues to check it against IHRA criteria.
After looking at the text of the website, an official, whose name was redacted from the released emails, wrote: “It seems therefore, that although the application form raises no issues, the contents of their website does raise the risk that the event will fall foul of the position the council has adopted.”
In a separate email, the council’s head of sports, leisure and culture said she felt the event should be refused because “the council has recently adopted the [IHRA] definition of antisemitism and there are concerns about the content of the organisation’s website with regard to this”.
The head of parks, Stephen Murray, suggested avoiding explaining the reasons behind the refusal in any reply to Big Ride organisers because of concerns that it would open “a can of worms”.
A Tower Hamlets council spokesperson told the Guardian: “The council gave the application careful consideration and decided not to host the event, because we do not host rallies with political connotations, albeit without direct links to political parties.”
A spokesperson for the charity said its work was focused on helping the 300,000 children in Gaza showing signs of severe psychological distress.
The spokesperson added: “It’s a dreadful thing when an over-scrupulous interpretation of the IHRA definition of antisemitism is used behind closed doors to prevent awareness raising of the situation in Palestine and the need for humanitarian support.”
Tower Hamlets officials did not divulge real reason for turning down Big Ride for Palestine
Officials at a London council that refused to host a charity event in aid of Palestinian children did not tell the organisers the decision was based on fears their criticism of Israel could breach antisemitism guidelines, internal emails have revealed.
The exchanges among officials at Tower Hamlets council also reveal they thought the event should be turned down, in part because of the row over antisemitism in the Labour party.
The council told The Big Ride for Palestine, which has raised nearly £150,000 for sports equipment for children in Gaza since 2015, that the event’s “political connotations” meant that the closing rally of this year’s bike ride could not go ahead in the borough “without problems”.
Officials told organisers there was a risk speakers might express views which contradicted the council’s policies on community cohesion and equality.
Behind the scenes, council staff raised fears of a “real risk” that the event and its organisers could be seen to have breached the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism because of references on their website to apartheid and ethnic cleansing.
One official said there were concerns “not least because of the recent furour [sic] within the Labour party over Anti Semitism [sic]”.
When considering how to explain the decision, one council official said it would be wise to “avoid the anti Semitism aspect ref their website as this could open a can of worms and come back to bite us”. There was no reference to antisemitism in the email to the event’s organisers.
The internal emails, released after a freedom of information request by the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, revealed the council attempted to assess the Big Ride website according to the rubric of the controversial IHRA definition.
The emails showed concern among council officials over quotes on the Big Ride website that described the Israeli treatment of Palestinians as ethnic cleansing and drew parallels between Israeli policies and apartheid-era South Africa.
One section of the website said: “Active opposition to the crimes of the Israeli state is a responsibility, just as opposition to South African apartheid was a moral and political imperative for many”, while another said: “It’s blatantly obvious to recognise the parallels between Apartheid South Africa and the state of Israel ...
This is an Israeli issue, not a Jewish one, many Jewish friends oppose this oppression.”
Elsewhere, the ride was described as a protest “against 67 years of Israeli ethnic cleansing”.
The controversial IHRA definition warns “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour” constitutes antisemitism. It grew in prominence after the Labour party adopted a version that excluded some examples included in the original text.
The party ultimately adopted the full definition, alongside a statement specifying that nothing in it should “undermine freedom of expression on Israel or the rights of Palestinians”.
Critics say the definition potentially conflates legitimate criticism of Israel with racism. Its supporters view it as a means of helping organisations assess subtler forms of antisemitic abuse.
The emails show council staff had already decided the event could be refused on the grounds it was “controversial and sensitive” before calling on colleagues to check it against IHRA criteria.
After looking at the text of the website, an official, whose name was redacted from the released emails, wrote: “It seems therefore, that although the application form raises no issues, the contents of their website does raise the risk that the event will fall foul of the position the council has adopted.”
In a separate email, the council’s head of sports, leisure and culture said she felt the event should be refused because “the council has recently adopted the [IHRA] definition of antisemitism and there are concerns about the content of the organisation’s website with regard to this”.
The head of parks, Stephen Murray, suggested avoiding explaining the reasons behind the refusal in any reply to Big Ride organisers because of concerns that it would open “a can of worms”.
A Tower Hamlets council spokesperson told the Guardian: “The council gave the application careful consideration and decided not to host the event, because we do not host rallies with political connotations, albeit without direct links to political parties.”
A spokesperson for the charity said its work was focused on helping the 300,000 children in Gaza showing signs of severe psychological distress.
The spokesperson added: “It’s a dreadful thing when an over-scrupulous interpretation of the IHRA definition of antisemitism is used behind closed doors to prevent awareness raising of the situation in Palestine and the need for humanitarian support.”
1 aug 2019
A right-wing Israeli NGO filed, on Wednesday, a petition to have US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar barred from entering Israel, when she arrives for an upcoming tour, because she supports the international boycott of Israel (BDS).
The organization, Shurat HaDin, asked the Israeli Jerusalem District Court, on Tuesday, to demand that Interior Minister Aryeh Deri exercise his power to deny Omar entry.
Omar expressed, during recent weeks, her desire to visit occupied Palestine, along with Palestinian-American Representative Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat from Michigan.
Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, stated, according to Al Ray, that Israel will not prevent Omar Tlaib from entering Israel, when they arrive for a planned tour, in August.
Shuran HaDin said that its petition included proof of Omar’s activities supporting the BDS movement, including her sponsorship of a bill to allow the boycotting of Israel, earlier this month.
The NGO also cited a recent tweet by US President Donald Trump, calling on Omar and Tlaib to apologize to Israel, the White House and the American people, due to their “horrible statements.
It is noteworthy that the movement of BDS is quite active in the United States, especially in American universities.
Israel considers any anti- Israeli occupation activity as anti-Semitic, although many American Jews are involved in the activity of the boycott movement, because of their opposition to Israeli policies.
The organization, Shurat HaDin, asked the Israeli Jerusalem District Court, on Tuesday, to demand that Interior Minister Aryeh Deri exercise his power to deny Omar entry.
Omar expressed, during recent weeks, her desire to visit occupied Palestine, along with Palestinian-American Representative Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat from Michigan.
Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, stated, according to Al Ray, that Israel will not prevent Omar Tlaib from entering Israel, when they arrive for a planned tour, in August.
Shuran HaDin said that its petition included proof of Omar’s activities supporting the BDS movement, including her sponsorship of a bill to allow the boycotting of Israel, earlier this month.
The NGO also cited a recent tweet by US President Donald Trump, calling on Omar and Tlaib to apologize to Israel, the White House and the American people, due to their “horrible statements.
It is noteworthy that the movement of BDS is quite active in the United States, especially in American universities.
Israel considers any anti- Israeli occupation activity as anti-Semitic, although many American Jews are involved in the activity of the boycott movement, because of their opposition to Israeli policies.
