Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) held her Nakba Day event after all on May 10 inside a Senate office building.
Jewish Insider reporter Marc Rod tweeted that the event took place in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Hearing Room, a committee chaired by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Rod, who attended the event, tweeted that Sanders sponsored the event; The New York Post noted that a source told them “that Senate committee chairs are responsible for approving rooms used for events.” However, The Jerusalem Post reported that Sanders was not at the event.
Initially, the event was going to be held in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center until Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) canceled it. But McCarthy does not have any jurisdiction over a Senate building, Rod noted. Sanders told Rod, “Members of the United States Congress in a democratic society have a right to hold a meeting, and I think it’s outrageous that Speaker McCarthy threw them out of a room they had reserved.”
Caught up with Sen. Bernie Sanders this morning re hosting the Tlaib Nakba event: "Members of the United States Congress in a democratic society have a right to hold a meeting, and I think it's outrageous that Speaker McCarthy threw them out of a room they had reserved," he said.
— Marc Rod (@marcrod97) May 11, 2023
Rod also tweeted that at the “standing room only” event, Tlaib accused “Israeli police of a ‘sustained campaign of terror’ at the Temple Mount.” She also said during the event that, according to The New York Post, “The nakba never ended. Each year our country sends billions to explicitly maintain an apartheid state and support ethnic cleansing without a second thought.” Additionally, Tlaib said that “no child should ever have to worry what will fall from the sky,” per The Jerusalem Post.
Representative Cori Bush (D-MO) also attended the event, per Rod.
NEWS: Tlaib’s “Nakba Day” event is back on in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Hearing Room in a Senate office building. McCarthy does not have jurisdiction on the Senate side. Committee is chaired by Sen. Bernie Sanders.
— Marc Rod (@marcrod97) May 10, 2023
Rep. Tlaib was the only member scheduled on the program to speak at this event but Rep. Cori Bush just showed up as well.
— Marc Rod (@marcrod97) May 10, 2023
Tlaib speaking now: accuses Israeli police of a “sustained campaign of terror” at the Temple Mount and says Israel is an “apartheid state” and that U.S. aid supports “ethnic cleansing.”
— Marc Rod (@marcrod97) May 11, 2023
Tlaib appears to confirm Sanders is sponsoring this.
— Marc Rod (@marcrod97) May 11, 2023
In response to McCarthy’s tweet announcing the cancellation of the event, Tlaib tweeted: “Let the headlines read ‘McCarthy tries to erase Palestine but fails.’”
Let the headlines read “McCarthy tries to erase Palestine but fails.” https://t.co/iyUX9AVY4p pic.twitter.com/iMxCAMTVWy
— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) May 11, 2023
Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), ranking member of the HELP Committee, told Rod that he “wholeheartedly” objected to the use of the committee’s room “for this divisive event.” “The Capitol Ground should not be used as a pedestal to legitimize anti-Semitic bigotry,” he said. A GOP spokesperson also told Rod that Cassidy “was unaware and not consulted in the Chair’s decision to permit the use of the committee room for this event.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy, the ranking member on Sanders' HELP Committee, says he rejects the use of the room and that he wasn't aware or consulted. pic.twitter.com/y88aFEFNwQ
— Marc Rod (@marcrod97) May 11, 2023
The New York Post reported that they have a source close to Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) saying that the Senate Majority Leader was not aware that the Senate building was being used for the event.
Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) denounced the event in a statement to Rod, “As Americans celebrate the 75thanniversary of the founding of Israel, calling the establishment of the world’s only Jewish state a ‘catastrophe’ is deeply offensive, and I strongly disagree with holding the event on Capitol Hill. Israel was founded as a refuge for the Jewish people seeking millennia of antisemitic persecution and violence. Let me be absolutely clear: the United States is and will always remain a stalwart ally of the State of Israel.”
Sen. Jacky Rosen condemns the Tlaib event in a statement to me, the 1st Senate Dem to speak out. "Calling the establishment of the world’s only Jewish state a ‘catastrophe’ is deeply offensive, and I strongly disagree with allowing this event to be held on Capitol Hill." https://t.co/05WKenD30o pic.twitter.com/5ylBw5sa1U
— Marc Rod (@marcrod97) May 11, 2023
Anti-Defamation League (ADL) CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted, “It is disgraceful that @SenSanders allowed this event by @RepRashida to be held in our nation’s Capitol. Real conversations are needed around a path to peace, but not with groups & individuals who espouse antisemitism. We call on the Senate to condemn this event.”
It is disgraceful that @SenSanders allowed this event by @RepRashida to be held in our nation’s Capitol. Real conversations are needed around a path to peace, but not with groups & individuals who espouse antisemitism. We call on the Senate to condemn this event. https://t.co/cmuJqEkcql
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) May 11, 2023
William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, tweeted: “It is outrageous that the hallowed halls of Congress would be used to promulgate the false narratives + historical revisionism of Israel-haters. Clearly they are more interested in demonizing the Jewish State than fostering understanding and common ground in the pursuit of peace.”
It is outrageous that the hallowed halls of Congress would be used to promulgate the false narratives + historical revisionism of Israel-haters. Clearly they are more interested in demonizing the Jewish State than fostering understanding and common ground in the pursuit of peace. https://t.co/WVf8g2pdie
— William Daroff (@Daroff) May 10, 2023
Dumisani Washington, founder and CEO of Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel, tweeted: “With an official #Nakba (anti-Israel) event being held at the State Capitol today, the US government now fully reflects the antisemitism on its college campuses and universities — where these ‘Progressive’, Israel-hating political leaders are being produced.”
With an official #Nakba (anti-Israel) event being held at the State Capitol today, the US government now fully reflects the antisemitism on its college campuses and universities — where these ‘Progressive’, Israel-hating political leaders are being produced.
— Dumisani Washington (@DumisaniTemsgen) May 11, 2023
Israellycool Israel Advocacy Executive Director David Lange tweeted, “Remember, this was happening as millions of @BernieSanders’ fellow Jews were under attack from Islamic Jihad rockets being fired from #Gaza. Bernie, you are a DISGRACE!”
Remember, this was happening as millions of @BernieSanders' fellow Jews were under attack from Islamic Jihad rockets being fired from #Gaza.
Bernie, you are a DISGRACE!https://t.co/ydlQlPn4gT— (((David Lange))) (@Israellycool) May 11, 2023
Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli tweeted in response to Tlaib, “Let’s remember together the founding father of the Palestinian national movement, the mufti Amin al-Husseini. A mass murderer and the architecture of the ‘Nakba.’” He went onto outline the relationship between al-Husseini and Adolf Hitler before concluding: “In 1946 the Holy War Army was established under the auspices of the Mufti and the Supreme Arab Committee of the Arabs of Palestine, it was the main fighting force in the first stages of Israel’s War of Independence, happily this army established by an ally of the Nazis was destroyed but its sick ideology is still with us.”
Since you insist, let's remember together the founding father of the Palestinian national movement, the mufti Amin al-Husseini. A mass murderer and the architecture of the “Nakba”. pic.twitter.com/gjTQBKHgZa
— עמיחי שיקלי – Amichai Chikli (@AmichaiChikli) May 11, 2023
On January 20, 1941, the mufti wrote a personal letter to Hitler, in which he described Britain as an enemy of the Arabs and claimed that it had abandoned Palestine "to the Jews of the entire world". He emphasized that "the Arab people have feelings of friendship, sympathy and… pic.twitter.com/f58FgxHSPq
— עמיחי שיקלי – Amichai Chikli (@AmichaiChikli) May 11, 2023
November 28 1941, al-Husseini meets German Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop. That same day, the Mufti was admitted to a conversation with Hitler who said: "When the time comes for the liberation of the Arabs, Germany no longer has an interest there, except for the destruction of… pic.twitter.com/PxdcdZNoT5
— עמיחי שיקלי – Amichai Chikli (@AmichaiChikli) May 11, 2023
In 1942 al-Husseini recruited a large number of Muslim fighters in Yugoslavia, Albania and Bulgaria, who were organized into special SS units. pic.twitter.com/jxcbTYCJb9
— עמיחי שיקלי – Amichai Chikli (@AmichaiChikli) May 11, 2023
Last but not least, in 1946 the Holy War Army was established under the auspices of the Mufti and the Supreme Arab Committee of the Arabs of Palestine, it was the main fighting force in the first stages of Israel's War of Independence, happily this army established by an ally of… pic.twitter.com/HHa3UUHTWK
— עמיחי שיקלי – Amichai Chikli (@AmichaiChikli) May 11, 2023
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