US House votes to censure Rashida Tlaib over her Israel-Hamas war comments

Washington DC [US], November 8 : The US House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to censure Representative Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress for her statements regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict, The New York Times reported.
As many as 22 Democratic lawmakers joined most Republicans in passing the resolution to censure Democratic Party member Tlaib. The resolution accuses Tlaib of "promoting false narratives" around Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7 and "calling for the destruction of the state of Israel," according to The New York Times report.
The vote for the resolution was 234 to 188. Four Republicans voted against censuring Tlaib while one Democrat and three Republicans voted "present," refusing to take a position. The support of Democratic lawmakers for a resolution censuring their own party leader shows an increasingly intense division in the party over the Israel-Hamas war, according to the report.
While many Democrats back Israel, however, the progressive left is calling for a ceasefire and focus on the suffering of the Palestinian people amid the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. So far, Tlaib has been the most vocal member of Congress to do so, according to The New York Times report.
The measure, offered by US Representative Rich McCormick, stressed that Tlaib's statement after Hamas's attack on Israel, calling for the end of "the apartheid system that creates the suffocating, dehumanizing conditions that can lead to resistance" "defended" terrorism.
It also mentioned Rashida Tlaib's endorsement of the phrase "from the river to the sea," a pro-Palestinian rallying cry that many consider calling for the eradication of Israel and has been regarded antisemitic by the Anti-Defamation League.
The resolution has termed the phrase "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."
Meanwhile, Tlaib has stressed that the slogan used by pro-Palestinian protesters featured in a video that she had shared accusing US President Joe Biden of backing genocide in Gaza is "an aspirational call for freedom, human rights and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction or hate."
During the debate on the resolution, Tlaib became emotional on the House floor as she reiterated her calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and defended her criticism of the Israeli government, The New York Times reported.
Rashida Tlaib said, "I can't believe I have to say this, but Palestinian people are not disposable," appearing to choke back tears as US Representative Ilhan Omar stood up to comfort her. She said, "The cries of the Palestinian and Israeli children sound no different to me."
She stressed that she has always criticised the Israeli government and not the people of Israel and warned her colleagues that the movement calling for a ceasefire was "growing every single day." She said, "You can try to censure me, but you can't silence their voices."
During the debate, mainstream Democrats were against the most progressive lawmakers in the House. US Representative Ayanna S Pressley, a member of the Democratic party, defended Tlaib and termed the resolution "blatantly Islamophobic, anti-democratic and an utter waste of time." Other Democrats have condemned Tlaib's statements.
US Representative Brad Schneider of Illinois, the lone Democrat who joined Republicans in a vote allowing the resolution to move forward, accused Rashida Tlaib of "trying to gaslight the world and give cover" to those using the "river to the sea" slogan.
Schneider said, "I will always defend the right to free speech." He said, "Tlaib has the right to say whatever she wants. But it cannot go unanswered."
Before the vote, US Representative Hakeem Jeffries said that echoing "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. Jeffries stressed that these slogans "unacceptably risk further polarization, division and incitement to violence."
Last week, the House struck down a different censure of Tlaib offered by US Representative Marjorie Taylor Green. The resolution accused Tlaib of "antisemitic activity" and termed a protest in a House office building on October 18 an "insurrection." During the protest, Tlaib had accused Israel of genocide.
Greene reintroduced her censure resolution after amending it to refer to the October 18 protest as an "illegal occupation" of a House office building. The House had planned to consider it on Tuesday. However, Greene withdrew the resolution after the House voted to allow the resolution offered by McCormick to move forward.