By a vote of 234-188, on Tuesday the House of Congress declared that “Whereas Representative Tlaib has repeatedly displayed conduct entirely unbecoming of a Member of the House of Representatives by calling for the destruction of the state of Israel and dangerously promoting false narratives regarding a brutal, large-scale terrorist attack against civilian targets inside the sovereign territory of a major non-NATO ally while hundreds of Israeli and American hostages remain in terrorist captivity: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That Representative Rashida Tlaib be censured.”
Twenty-two Democrats joined the majority of the Republican delegation in passing the censure resolution.
The measure was initiated by Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA), in response to statements made by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), suggesting, “within 24 hours of the October 7 barbaric attack on Jewish citizens of the State of Israel, representing the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, defended the brutal rapes, murders, beheadings, and kidnapping – including of Americans – by Hamas as justified ‘resistance’ to the ‘apartheid state.’”
And: “On October 18, 2023, Representative Tlaib continued to knowingly spread the false narrative that Israel intentionally bombed the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital on October 17 after United States intelligence, Israeli intelligence, and President Biden assessed with high confidence that Israel did not cause the explosion.”
And: “On November 3, 2023, Representative Tlaib published on social media a video containing the phrase ‘from the river to the sea,’ which is widely recognized as a genocidal call to violence to destroy the state of Israel and its people to replace it with a Palestinian state extending from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.”
And: “Representative Tlaib doubled down on this call to violence by falsely describing ‘from the river to the sea’ as ‘an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence’ despite it clearly entailing Israel’s destruction and denial of its fundamental right to exist.”
Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) said Tlaib was “trying to gaslight the world and give cover” to Israel haters who use the “river to the sea” slogan. He added: “I will always defend the right to free speech, Tlaib has the right to say whatever she wants, but it cannot go unanswered.”
Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-MI) led dozens of her colleagues in issuing a statement condemning the use of the antisemitic phrase, “from the river to the sea,” affirming Israel’s right to defend itself, and calling for a humanitarian pause to help save innocent life in Gaza:
“We reject the use of the phrase ‘from the river to the sea’— a phrase used by many, including Hamas, as a rallying cry for the destruction of the State of Israel and genocide of the Jewish people. We all feel deep anguish for the human suffering caused by the war in Gaza. Hamas started this war with a barbaric terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, and neither the Palestinian nor Israeli people can have peace as long as Hamas still rules over Gaza and threatens Israel.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), said in a statement that repeating “slogans that are widely understood as calling for the complete destruction of Israel — such as ‘from the river to the sea’ — does not advance progress toward a two-state solution. Instead, it unacceptably risks further polarization, division, and incitement to violence.”
During the debate on her censure, a defiant Tlaib declared: “I can’t believe I have to say this, but Palestinian people are not disposable.”
Tell that to Hamas, which is only too happy to use them as human shields, and shoots them when they try to flee.
According to the NY Times, Tlaib choked back tears as Representative Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota, stood up to comfort her.
That makes two crocodiles.
Wiki explains that censure, which is “stronger than a simple rebuke, but not as strong as expulsion,” is a formal statement of disapproval that relies on the target’s sense of shame or their constituents’ subsequent disapproval, without which the censure has little practical effect.
