ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - The Latest on Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib being blocked from visiting Israel (all times local):
3:45 p.m.
Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota is calling on other members of Congress to visit Israel while she and Rep. Rashida Tlaib cannot.
Israel last week blocked the two Democratic House members from a planned trip to that country over their support for a Palestinian-led boycott movement.
At a news conference in Minnesota, Omar says she and Tlaib are being prevented from carrying out their duties as members of Congress.
She is calling on her colleagues to “meet with the people we were going to meet with, see the things we were going to see, hear the stories we were going to hear.”
Omar says President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cannot succeed “in hiding the cruel reality of the occupation from us.”
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5:52 a.m.
Democratic U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan are hosting a news conference on travel restrictions to Israel and Palestine, after they were denied entry into Israel last week.
At the urging of President Donald Trump, Israel denied entry to the two Muslim representatives over their support for the Palestinian-led boycott movement. The two are outspoken critics of Trump and of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.
They were subjected to a series of racist tweets from Trump last month, in which he told them to “go back” to their “broken” countries. Both are U.S. citizens.
Omar, Tlaib and Minnesota residents who have been impacted by travel restrictions plan to speak about the issue Monday afternoon in St. Paul.
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