Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) has called on Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) not to approve a proposed congressional delegation to Judea and Samaria led by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).
“I am writing to express my extreme concern,” Babin wrote in a letter to Pelosi. “This action, from an outspoken supporter of the ‘BDS’ Israel boycott movement ... is both ill-conceived and inconsistent with our national values.”
“Please consider the damage that a yet unexperienced and overly caustic Member of Congress may cause to Israeli relations, or the perceptions of our own Jewish-American citizens,” he added.
In December, Tlaib, who met last week with a Palestinian activist who has said that Israel is a “terrorist entity,” announced the trip for freshmen members of Congress.
“I want us to see that segregation and how that has really harmed us being able to achieve real peace in that region,” Tlaib told The Intercept. “I don’t think [the American Israel Public Affairs Committee] provides a real, fair lens into this issue. It’s one-sided. … [They] have these lavish trips to Israel, but they don’t show the side that I know is real, which is what’s happening to my grandmother and what’s happening to my family there.”
