Tlaib suggests boycotting Maher show after he calls anti-Israel boycott movement ‘bulls— purity test’

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) late Saturday suggested that viewers should boycott comedian Bill Maher’s late-night HBO show over his vehement criticism of the international movement to boycott Israel. 

Tlaib, who was denied entry to Israel last week over her support of the movement, said that she was “tired of folks discrediting a form of speech that is centered on equality and freedom.”

Maybe folks should boycott his show.

I am tired of folks discrediting a form of speech that is centered on equality and freedom. This is exactly how they tried to discredit & stop the boycott to stand up against the apartheid in S. Africa. It didn’t work then and it won’t now. https://t.co/Oa49ZVfrVN

— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) August 17, 2019

{mosads}“This is exactly how they tried to discredit & stop the boycott to stand up against the apartheid in S. Africa,” Tlaib added. “It didn’t work then and it won’t now.”

The comments from Tlaib came just days after Israel abruptly announced that it would bar Tlaib and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from entering the country during their upcoming trip overseas.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the move, citing Israeli law prohibiting entry into the country for individuals who support a boycott of Israel. 

Omar and Tlaib, who became the first Muslim women sworn into Congress in January, have been outspoken critics of Israel during their time in office. The two have also supported the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, voting against a congressional resolution to condemn it earlier this year.

Maher on Friday voiced strong criticism of the BDS movement on HBO’s “Real Time,” calling it a “a bullshit purity test by people who want to appear woke but actually slept through history class.”

“It’s predicated on this notion, I think — it’s very shallow thinking — that the Jews in Israel, mostly white, and the Palestinians are browner, so they must be innocent and correct, and the Jews must be wrong. As if the occupation came right out of the blue, that this completely peaceful people found themselves occupied,” he said.

Maher later pointed to controversial statements Omar has made in the past about Israel, saying that he could see why the lawmakers wouldn’t receive a “hero’s welcome.” 

“Congresswoman Omar has said things like ‘It’s all about the Benjamins,’ ‘Israel has hypnotized the world,’ ‘May Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel,’ ” Maher said. “She apologized for it, but it’s out there: Jews control the world, control the money,” he said, adding of the lawmakers, “I can see why they don’t get a hero’s welcome.”

Omar and Tlaib, as well as several Democratic lawmakers, have decried Israel’s decision to bar their entry.

“Trump’s Muslim ban is what Israel is implementing, this time against two duly elected Members of Congress,” Omar said in a tweet last week. 

The Israeli government said that it would allow Tlaib to enter the country if she filed a humanitarian request to visit her grandmother. Tlaib initially filed a request, pledging to not to vocalize her support of BDS while in the region. 

However, she reversed course Friday, saying in a tweet that visiting Israel under those conditions stands against what she believes in. 

“Silencing me & treating me like a criminal is not what she wants for me,” said Tlaib, whose parents are Palestinian immigrants. “It would kill a piece of me. I have decided that visiting my grandmother under these oppressive conditions stands against everything I believe in–fighting against racism, oppression & injustice.”