Thread by @bungarsargon

When big news like this breaks, we try @jdforward to honor our mandate for the opinion section to raise up the voices of the disenfranchised, to represent the breadth of opinion relevant to our community, and to challenge our own editorial point of view in good faith.

To that end, here are some of the op-eds we ran yesterday to help our community think through the difficult news that Israel had decided to ban two U.S. Congresswomen, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar:

It was really important to me to get a Palestinian point of view. @Issaamro had plans to meet @RashidaTlaib and @IlhanMN, and to host them together with the women of Hebron. He wrote an open letter to the Congresswomen about what he'd hoped to show them:

forward.com/opinion/429647…

We ran a piece by @emmabgo, in which she argued that Israel’s decision to block Reps. Tlaib and Omar, though shocking, is no surprise but part of a trend of keeping dissenters out of the country, from @ArielElyseGold to @PeterBeinart:

forward.com/opinion/429638…

In a challenge to the prevailing point of view, @arih1987 argued that Israel was right to ban the Congresswomen: "Even if you were a welcoming person hospitable to a wide range of visitors, would you admit those who wanted to destroy everything you built?"
forward.com/opinion/429661…

From Israel, @AlonPinkas argued that Netanyahu gave up on the Democrats he humiliated yesterday long ago, as well as the American Jews who Democrats represent:

forward.com/opinion/429665…

And @PeterBeinart argued that Israel banned the Congresswomen because it must hide the occupation from public view. Once the reality of the occupation and its cruelty are revealed, it will be impossible to sustain it:

forward.com/opinion/429680…

Also from Israel, @skjask wrote about what she wished the Congresswomen would see, though this was not on their itinerary. She wished they would see all the coexistence happening in Israel. "Even just interacting with Israelis, as human beings, has value."
forward.com/opinion/429625…