Rep. Rashida Tlaib facing censure over response to Hamas attack on Israel
(CBS DETROIT) - U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, is facing censure for her response to the Hamas attack on Israel.
U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, filed a censure resolution against Tlaib Wednesday, saying she has a "long history of making anti-semitic and anti-Israeli remarks."
This comes after Tlaib, a Palestinian-American, released a statement following the attack on Saturday.
Here's Tlaib's full statement:
"I grieve the Palestinian and Israeli lives lost yesterday, today, and every day. I am determined as ever to fight for a just future where everyone can live in peace, without fear and with true freedom, equal rights, and human dignity. The path to that future must include lifting the blockade, ending the occupation, and dismantling the apartheid system that creates the suffocating, dehumanizing conditions that can lead to resistance. The failure to recognize the violent reality of living under siege, occupation, and apartheid makes no one safer. No person, no child anywhere should have to suffer or live in fear of violence. We cannot ignore the humanity in each other. As long as our country provides billions in unconditional funding to support the apartheid government, this heartbreaking cycle of violence will continue."
Bergman criticized her response, and in a video posted to social media, he said, "While we don't all have to see eye-to-eye on every issue, I'd hope we can all agree that the terrorist raping women, murdering festivalgoers, and decapitating babies is a crime against all of humanity, and we must be able to call out that kind of unbridled evil in the world."
In a statement, Bergman also said, "As Hamas terrorists beheaded infants, paraded dead Jewish teenagers through town, and attacked innocent concert goers in the most deadly day for Jews since the Holocaust, Rep. Rashida Tlaib chose to place the blame solely on Israel and the Jewish people."There is no moral equivalence between Israel defending itself and Hamas attacking innocent Israeli civilians. Tlaib's long history of anti-Semitic tropes and blatant anti-Jewish propaganda is both disturbing and evil - and should have no place in the halls of Congress."
A censure consists of a formal vote of disapproval of another member's actions. This vote is a public reprimand but doesn't deny a representative of any rights or privileges. To learn more about this public form of rebuke, visit here.
On Tuesday, Oct. 17, Tlaib criticized Biden following an attack on a hospital in Gaza City.
Tlaib released the following statement on social media:
"@POTUS this is what happens when you refuse to facilitate a ceasefire & help de-escalate.
Your war and destruction only approach has opened my eyes and many Palestinian Americans and Muslims Americans like me. We will remember where you stood."
For more on Tlaib's response, and to see Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud's response, visit here.
Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, launched a massive attack on Israel early on Saturday, Oct. 7, killing hundreds of people. For more on why Hamas attacked, and why now, visit here.
