Rashida Tlaib to avoid West Bank trip

US congresswoman Rashida Tlaib on Friday rejected Israel’s offer to let her travel to the West Bank, saying she would not visit her family after the Israeli government lifted a ban on her entry but imposed “oppressive conditions” to humiliate her.

Tlaib, a Democrat who represents Michigan in the US House of Representatives and has been critical of Israeli policy towards the Palestinians, had planned to make an official visit to Israel along with fellow Democrat congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under pressure from US President Donald Trump, on Thursday said he would not allow them to make a planned trip to Israel.

On Friday, Israel decided to allow Tlaib to visit family in the occupied West Bank on humanitarian grounds. “I can’t allow the State of Israel to take away that light by humiliating me and use my love for my sity to bow down to their oppressive and racist policies,” Tlaib tweeted, using the word sity to refer to her grandmother.