Rashida Tlaib Compares Israel’s Denial of Travel to Apartheid South Africa

EXCERPT:

TLAIB: “History does have a habit of repeating itself. I learned this week that a former member of Congress, congressman Charles C. Diggs Jr. was denied entry into Apartheid South Africa in 1972. He was also the representative for the 13th congressional district in Michigan. I was born and raised in the beautiful Detroit. Where many of my African-American teachers taught me about the realities of oppression and justice and the need to speak up and take action. Growing up in a city that has been at the center of many social justice movements for civil rights, labor rights and equality and absorbing those lessons has shaped who I am today, and drives me to push for peace and justice for the Palestinian and Israeli people. As a young girl visiting Palestine to see my grandparents and extended family, I watched as my mother had to go through dehumanizing checkpoints even though she was a United States citizen and proud American. I was there when my sitty was in a terrible car accident and my cousins and I cried so she could have access to the best hospitals which were in Jerusalem. I remember shaking with fear when checkpoints appeared in the small village of Beit Ur al-Fauqa, tanks and guns everywhere. I remember visiting East Jerusalem with my then-husband and him escorted off the bus although he was a United States citizen just so security forces could harass him.”