On Tuesday, U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) became the 26th member of Congress to be censured, by a vote of 224-188, with 22 Democrats voting joining the all but eight GOP representatives in censuring Tlaib for “promoting false narratives” regarding the October 7 Hamas attack and the use of a phrase many interpret as calling for the destruction of Israel.
In heated speeches, Republicans accused Tlaib of refusing to condemn Hamas, referring to the Hamas attack as “resistance,” and using antisemitic rhetoric, including the phrase “from the river to the sea,” which is a rallying cry of Hamas to eradicate Israel. Democrats argued her speech was protected and it was a bad precedent to silence the only Palestinian American in Congress.
Several days after the Hamas terror attack against Israel, in which more than 1,400 were murdered and 240 were taken hostage, Fox Business Network’s Hillary Vaughn asked Tlaib if Israel had the right to defend itself and if she had any comment on Hamas chopping off babies’ heads or the other atrocities. Tlaib continued to walk to an elevator and didn’t answer the reporter, who repeatedly asked if she would comment about Hamas. While it was first reported by many news outlets that the Al-Shifa Hospital was hit by an Israeli rocket killing 500 Palestinians, President Joe Biden later said that U.S. Intelligence said it was not Israel that was responsible, while open-source experts said video appeared to show a failed rocket from Gaza. The rocket hit outside the hospital and while it is unclear how many died, estimates put it at fewer than 500.
On October 17, Tlaib posted on X that “Israel just bombed the Baptist Hospital killing 500 Palestinian (doctors, children, patients) just like that. @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 and Muslim American like me. We will remember where you stood.” The post has not been deleted. She also tweeted that Tlaib tweeted that “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is “an aspirational call for freedom” and not meant to mean death or destruction.
The debate’s most blistering comments against Tlaib were delivered by Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), who said:
“My colleague representative Rashida Tlaib has parroted the talking points and the message of Hamas, a terrorist organization, whose sworn mission is the destruction of Israel and the eradication of the Jewish people. Israel is our strongest ally in the Middle East, a beacon of hope and liberty in the region … It is not an apartheid state. The oppressor of the Palestinian people is Hamas and the Palestinian authority … Calling for a ceasefire that they won’t abide to is outrageous. They need to immediately surrender and return the hostages to their families. My colleague repeated a vile and disgusting lie that Israel bombed a hospital, knowing full well that was factually inaccurate … why? It was intended to undermine, to turn the world against Israel. Why? Because when she chants ‘from the river to the sea,’ she believes it. She believes Israel should eradicated.” He added that “Paul Kessler was killed for holding an Israeli flag in the United States of America …”
(According to police, Kessler was holding an Israeli flag at a rally attended by pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel supporters and was killed due to blunt force trauma from megaphone that someone hit him with or threw at him, No arrests have been made.)
Tlaib, who has in numerous cases said she has family members in the West Bank, called for a release of hostages and “those arbitrarily detained,” seemingly a reference to Palestinians jailed in Israel, which is said to be more than 5,000 and includes some convicted of murder.
“I will not be silenced and I will not let you distort my words,” she said. “Trying to bully or censor me won’t work because this movement for a ceasefire.”
She did not mention Hamas by name or the attack of October 7. She criticized President Joe Biden for disputing death tolls. Biden has said he has “no confidence” in numbers coming out of Hamas’ Gaza Ministry of Health. It has reported more than 10,000 deaths and makes no distinction between Hamas members and civilians.
Tlaib also mentioned Wadea Al-Fayoume, a 6-year old Palestinian American boy who was murdered in Illinois in what some claim was a hate crime. A 71-year-old landlord, Joseph Chuba, allegedly stabbed the boy 26 times and was charged with first-degree murder. He also stabbed the boy’s mother, who survived. Tlaib said Palestinians should not be dehumanized.
Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) defended Tlaib and said “we must grapple the rule of law to our souls with hoops of steel at this moment … let’s defend the freedom of speech for today, for tomorrow and going forward in the Congress of the United States.”
Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who, unlike Tlaib, walked back her comments on social media, noting on X that U.S. intelligence reported the missile was not fired by Israel, said Republicans were making their own definitions of what Tlaib meant. She also shouted that those looking to censure Tlaib did not acknowledge “the fact that Palestinians are dying in the tens of thousands,” and added that “the Palestinian movement will continue for liberation until every single Palestinian has the right to live in liberty.”
An earlier effort to censure Tlaib brought by Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) that charged a protest Tlaib led at the Capitol Complex an “insurrection” failed.
Rich McCormick (R-Ga.), a former Marine who introduced the successful resolution, said Tlaib has stoked antisemitism and the censure would show that America stands behind its allies.
“We must hold her accountable,” McCormick said of Tlaib, adding that Jewish Americans worry every day about the possibility of an antisemitic attack.
He also said “if this is not worthy of censure, I don’t know what is.” (It was later announced that McCormick sent his staff home Tuesday after serious threats.)
Censure is largely symbolic and does not involve any penalty of removal from committees.
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