Two of the strongest democracies in the world have stooped to the level of demagoguery by one President telling the other that it would be a shame if they allowed two US Congresswomen into their county. The President of Israel, the other county agreed to barr Representative Rashida Tlaib, and Representative Ilhan Omar from visting.
Israel changed its mind, and said that Rep. Tlaib could, after all, visit the country to visit her grandmother in Palestine. She turned it down after realizing that the Israel government was limiting her free speech when they said she couldn’t talk about fighting racism, oppression and injustice.
Netanyahu and Trump have shown how two heads of government can move democracies in the direction of authoritarianism. In most parts of the world, Americans can freely travel to other countries, and the same is true of citizens of Israel. When democratic governments begin to limit the freedom of expression, and travel, we have to open our eyes to the consequences.
The American democracy is in danger of becoming unsafe for anyone who is different. Different in many ways. Different in the color of your skin, where your ancestors came from, ones religious beliefs, and what you say.
At a Shell plant in Pennsylvania, workers were told that it was not mandatory to attend a Trump speech at the plant. However, if they didn’t attend, they wouldn’t be paid for the day. And if they did come, they could not yell, boo, shout, or show any type of protest.