Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) on Saturday accused President Joe Biden of supporting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom she referred to as a “genocidal maniac” and “murderous war criminal.”
Speaking at the People’s Conference for Palestine at the Huntington Place convention center in downtown Detroit, Tlaib said, “You are an enabler, President Biden.”
U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib at People’s Conference for Palestine: By Attacking the Authority of the ICC, President Biden Is Enabling, Shielding Genocidal Maniac Netanyahu and Senior Israeli Officials pic.twitter.com/LmBKsUDpja
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) May 26, 2024
She accused Biden of attempting to prevent Netanyahu, and other senior Israeli officials, from being held accountable for “crimes against humanity” by interfering with the International Criminal Court.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan last week announced that he is seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as for senior Hamas terror leaders.
Just hours after the announcement, Biden released a statement calling the move “outrageous.” In a subsequent statement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized that Washington “fundamentally rejects” the announcement.
Tlaib also mentioned the recent International Court of Justice ruling that Israel must halt such operations in Rafah “which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”
Speaking in the White House Rose Garden on Monday, Biden said, “Contrary to allegations against Israel made by the International Court of Justice, what’s happening [in Gaza] is not genocide.”
“Where is your red line, President Biden?” Tlaib asked on Saturday, adding that the president “shields the murderous war criminal Netanyahu and the Israeli government.”
Another featured speaker at the weekend summit was Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) member Wisam Rafeedie. The United States has designated the PFLP as a foreign terrorist organization since 1997.
The conference also featured Sana’ Daqqa, the wife of Walid Daqqa, a PFLP member who died last month in an Israeli prison, where he was serving a sentence for the kidnapping and murder of an Israeli soldier in 1984.
A founding member of the PFLP endorsed the conference before it took place.
“I call on the members of the Arab community and supporters of our cause to participate in the People’s Conference,” said PFLP founding member Salah Salah.
The Detroit gathering in total featured more than 20 speakers affiliated with the Palestinian Youth Movement, one of the main organizers. The PYM often voices support for members of terror groups, including the PFLP, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
PYM celebrated and supported the Oct. 7 massacres on social media.
The conference was streamed live on YouTube.
“All backers of Zionism, Israel and U.S. imperialism have been put on notice,” organizers state on the conference website, apparently referring to the anti-Israel and antisemitic protests on U.S. college campuses.
“This moment calls on us to strengthen our relationships, our strategies, our tactics, and our unity for the struggle ahead. We must build a shared assessment of the moment, and chart out the next phase of our struggle,” they added.
Organizers of the conference also include the National SJP (Students for Justice in Palestine), the People’s Forum and the U.S. Palestinian Community Network.
