Rashida Tlaib's family is proud of how far she has come as a member of the American Congress.

I24NEWS Middle East Correspondent Emily Rose visited the Arab village of Beit Ur al-Fauqa, near Beit Horon, in Samaria, where Tlaib's mother was born, and spoke to her family.

"As a member of American congress and also as a Palestinian, for some of her life Rashida lived under occupation," Tlaib's uncle Bassem said. "She lived the reality of suffering from the Israeli occupation, so the message of her visit will be different from what you hear in the media about this region."

Bassem expressed his hope that Tlaib would change the discourse on the Arab-Israeli conflict in the US. "It will be different from what the American people hear and think about the occupation. Rashida will give the right picture of the occupation and the way Palestinians live."

Earlier Thursday, the Israeli government announced that it would ban Tlaib and fellow freshman Congresswomen Ilhan Omar from visiting Israel next week.

The Interior Ministry confirmed Thursday that the two would be prevented from entering Israel, citing the 2017 anti-BDS law.

“The decision was made based on the opinion of the Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz, and Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan, after Minister Deri noted that the matter involved supporters of the anti-Israel boycott, who are prohibited from entering the country, according to the law regarding entry into Israel,” the Interior Minister's office said in a statement Thursday.

"These are people who use the most influential platform in the world to express support for BDS organizations which call for the boycotting of Israel. The State of Israel respects the American Congress, as part of the close alliance between our two countries, but we cannot permit people into the country who seek to hurt the State of Israel."

Despite the ban, Interior Minister Aryeh Deri said he would consider granting an entry visa to Tlaib on humanitarian grounds, should she request it.

“We won’t allow those who deny our right to exist in this world to enter Israel. In principle this is a very justified decision,” Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) told Kan.

Under the law, the Interior Ministry may bar entry to individuals who have publicly expressed support for the BDS movement against Israel.

Both Omar and Tlaib, first-term Democrats who have sparked controversy for their comments on Israel which some have deemed anti-Semitic, have backed the BDS movement.

Prime Minister Netanyahu said that he supported the Interior Ministry's decision after considering their itinerary. According to Netanyahu, the congresswomen wrote specifically that they were visiting 'Palestine' and not 'Israel.'