Debunking more of Ilhan Omar's lies about Israel

Ilhan Omar sent out a series of tweets about her planned itinerary in the territories that included some really ridiculous lies.

We then planned to visit Hebron. Once a bustling economic hub, settlement expansion has resulted in a two-tiered city, with Palestinians under military occupation forced to walk on the opposite side of the street from Israelis. https://t.co/UqTzOMb0Hs

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) August 16, 2019

77% of shops have closed bc of military occupation. Palestinians walk with garbage nets above their heads, put up to catch trash thrown by settlers. Violent attacks on Palestinians are routine.

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) August 16, 2019

Here is a map of Hebron I made in response:

The 77% of shops closed aren't in Hebron; they are in a tiny section of Hebron that anti-Israel groups want you to think is the entire city. Israel closed off those areas because Palestinians were shooting Jews in that section.

Hebron in fact has malls like this one:

It looks like this:

Omar was badly quoting a 2007 B'Tselem report that was not talking about Hebron as a whole, or even about H2, but only about the tiny area around Shuhada Street. But she is too ignorant to know the difference.

One should expect more from an elected representative.


Another tweet of Omar's is equally false:

We planned to visit the separation wall around historic Bethlehem. Only 13% of Bethlehem is now accessible to Palestinian use.

The wall, built in 2002 against international law, was said at the time to be “temporary.”

It still stands. https://t.co/EVftWuvtLe

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) August 16, 2019

Only 13% of Bethlehem is accessible to Palestinians?

That is absurd, as I responded with a B'Tselem map showing the separation barrier - and Bethlehem is almost entirely on the Palestinian side, and quite large, without any checkpoints or impediments:

Again, Omar was misquoting a different statistic and applying it to the city of  Bethlehem.

This is not mere sloppiness, which would be bad enough for a member of Congress. This is knowingly lying.

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