The U.S. House voted Tuesday to censure Congress’s lone Palestinian American lawmaker, Democrat Rashida Tlaib for feedback over Israel’s warfare in Gaza.
Twenty-two Democrats joined with most Republicans within the chamber to censure Tlaib for allegedly “promoting false narratives” on the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion of Israel and “calling for the destruction of the state of Israel.”
The movement was sponsored by Republican Representative Richard McCormick. The remaining vote tally within the Republican-controlled chamber was 234-188 in favor of censure. Four Republicans voted towards the movement, whereas three Democrats and one Republican abstained.
Tlaib has repeatedly condemned Hamas’s incursion, whereas additionally criticizing U.S. assist for Israel because the nation’s navy retaliates with bombardment that has killed over 10,000 Palestinians in Gaza.
The measure particularly cited a video Tlaib printed on social media containing the phrase “from the river to the sea,” a pro-Palestinian rallying cry that’s seen by many Jews as antisemitic and calling for Israel’s eradication.
She additionally enraged many fellow Democrats on Friday when she posted a video accusing President Joe Biden of supporting “the genocide of the Palestinian people.” Israel rejects accusations of genocide.
Tlaib rejected accusations of antisemitism throughout a speech on the House ground Tuesday.
“I am the only Palestinian-American in Congress, and my perspective is needed more than ever,” Tlaib stated.
“My criticism has always been of the Israeli government and (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu’s actions … The idea that criticizing the government of Israel is antisemitic sets a very dangerous precedent,” Tlaib stated.
“Palestinian people are not disposable,” Tlaib added, taking a protracted pause as she turned overcome with emotion. Her grandmother lives in a village within the occupied West Bank, a territory Israel captured in a 1967 warfare.
Representative Pete Aguilar, the No. 2 Democrat within the House, advised reporters Tuesday that whereas he “strenuously disagreed” with Tlaib’s remarks about Biden, he believed the censure movement was not productive.
Source: www.dailysabah.com