Tlaib Says GOP Is Distorting Her Israel-Hamas Position With Censure Resolutions

(USNewsMag.com) – After they introduced a motion to censure her, Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib accused her GOP colleagues of distorting comments she made about the wars between Israel and Hamas.

Tlaib released an official statement in response to the censure, which she claims is “distorting” her position on the Middle Eastern war. She said that many of her colleagues have shown “that Palestinian lives simply do not matter to them,” noting that despite her disagreement, she doesn’t “police their rhetoric or actions” regarding the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

She said the censure resolution is “filled with obvious lies” and that “it’s a shame” her colleagues “are more focused” on silencing her than “saving lives.” Tlaib then noted that the death toll among Palestinians in the Gaza Strip has passed 10,000 since Israel’s military response to Hamas.

Tlaib claims her colleagues refuse to “acknowledge the voice and perspective” of the only member of Congress who is Palestinian-American. She argued that she’s “repeatedly denounced” the attacks by Hamas that targeted and killed civilians alongside those of the Israeli government, maintaining that she has “mourned” the lives lost from both sides.

The attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7 reportedly left 1,400 dead, including around 200 taken hostage. As Tlaib noted, the Israeli military response in Gaza to weed out Hamas has resulted in over 10,000 more deaths in the region. Tlaib is one of a handful of progressive caucus lawmakers calling for a cease-fire as the Biden administration continues to resist the idea, calling for pauses in the conflict instead in order to secure aid for Palestinians affected by the conflict and the secure return of hostages. She accused President Joe Biden of “complicity” in the deaths of children in the area.

One of the reasons for the censure of Tlaib is her defense of the pro-Palestinian slogan “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which resulted in backlash from within her own party. Critics of the phrase claim it is a call for genocide and argue it implies erasing the state of Israel.