How to Host Anti-Semites Visiting Israel
What are the best places to take two anti-Semites visiting Israel?
Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar are packing their bags for the Holy Land and know exactly what to put at the top of their itinerary: Those “gotcha” moments. They never tire of their “Alice in Wonderland” narrative -- weaving an elaborate fantasy -- portraying the tiny democracy as the moral equivalent of the “N” word: Nazi Germany.
The irony of their proposed media blitz cannot be missed. They’ll be free to espouse their hatred of Israel -- a country where there is freedom of the press -- as opposed to (say) Palestine. Doubtless a compliant media -- following in their footsteps -- will be ignoring this inconvenient truth.
But the Israelis may have something entirely different in mind for the pair’s itinerary, involving an education. There is so much the junior congresswomen -- who aren’t shy about their attacks on Israel -- can learn.
How about the pair truly experiencing a “woke” moment: They can witness for themselves the way Jews treat Arabs. A good place to start is the Chaim Sheba Medical Center in Tel HaShomer, the largest hospital in Israel. Tlaib and Omar can visit with their Muslim sisters who are being treated for burn complications at the pioneering facility. Tragically the women sustained the disfiguring injuries after being attacked by their abusive husbands.
It is befuddling as to why the congresswomen -- as champions of justice -- do not speak out against the widespread practice of men brutalizing women in the Muslim community. That’s certainly worthy of their attention! Or they can take a page out of Robert Mueller’s playbook: They can say it’s not within their “purview.”
If the congresswomen are cherry-picking facts, they’re going to want to ignore another issue. You won’t hear it on Al Jazeera network, but Israel maintains an open-door policy of dispensing medical care to Arabs from neighboring regions (including Syria, Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, etc.). No need for Omar to worry about the “Benjamins, baby.” Typically Israelis pick up the humanitarian tab. How can Muslims from destitute regions be expected to pay?
That may cast a new light on Tlaib’s obsession with the BDS movement (Boycott, Divest, and Sanction campaign against Israel). Who is she hurting? Israel is a known pioneer in cancer research, and even recently announced an advance in one of the most fatal cancers, pancreatic. This is the tip of the iceberg: Israelis are making hundreds of advances in medicine and technology every year.
Life can be so simple -- for Tlaib -- living in a propaganda bubble.
But let’s not diverge from the Squad’s core message: They’re all about championing the personal freedoms of the Palestinian people. Of course, Tlaib and Omar --who were born and bred in anti-Semitism -- might be missing the bigger picture. That can happen when failing to take in the political landscape.
One Israeli physician could offer Ilhan and Rashida a rarely glimpsed insight into the true nature of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He recalls treating a Palestinian woman for burns at the Sheba Center. She improved far beyond what the physician thought possible. Her way of saying thank-you was nothing short of perverse.
She attempted to return for follow-up treatment, but was arrested at the border wearing a suicide belt. The paperwork issued by the hospital increased the woman’s chances of making it through the checkpoint.
Where does this irrational hatred come from? We don’t have to look much further than Tlaib and her like-minded radicals to trace this toxic spring of hatred. That said, Tlaib has even spoken of a “calming feeling” that comes over her when she thinks of the “Holocaust,” referencing the industrialized murder of innocent Jews by the Nazis. Why does she still have a job in Congress? And would Tlaib experience that “calming” sentiment if the burn victim hadn’t wasted the use of a suicide belt?
Speaking truth to power, Tlaib and Omar owe it to the American taxpayer to better educate themselves during their congressional junket: That means visiting Israel’s top-flight universities. Perhaps they’d like to meet Arab-Israeli Ph.Ds, or future Muslim physicians. (You never know who you’re going to blow up these days!)
Or would they like to meet an Israeli-Arab Supreme Court justice? The “Squad” would be hard-pressed to meet a Jewish judge in one of the 45 Islamic countries: They don’t exist.
But they could meet “Queers for Palestine,” which does exist in a topsy-turvy world of radicals. They do deserve credit for originating such a well-meaning oxymoron. But you might be tempted to ask: “What LGBTQ planet are they on?” Homosexuals confront some of the worst human rights violations in Muslim controlled countries. Hopefully gays and lesbians won’t attempt to rally around their rainbow-colored flag in Palestine, or they may end up getting thrown off a roof or flogged in public.
What about the “queers” going to Tel Aviv? It was rated as one of the most gay-friendly cities in the world, according to Newsweek magazine. Perhaps Tlaib and Omar would like to comment on the acts of cruelty being perpetrated against their gay Muslim comrades in Ramallah (a stone’s throw from Israel, no pun intended). Or anywhere else in the Arab world.
Let’s save a surprise visit as the final stop: a Holocaust survivor could serve as Omar and Tlaib ’s guide at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, in Jerusalem. They can compare notes -- speaking with the survivor -- helping them accurately define what truly constitutes genocidal murder and crimes against humanity. Tlaib, in particular, is obsessed with elevating Palestinian victimhood to a useful narrative: She refuses to allow fixed facts to come between her and her obscene language of casting Israelis in the role of Nazis.
Perhaps the junior congresswomen -- still so young in their careers -- could take heed from the writing on the wall (literally) at Yad Vashem. They can learn from the world’s most accomplished Jew haters -- espousing their vile propaganda -- and seeing where it all ends.