Rep. Tlaib: Israel is an 'Apartheid State Violating Human Rights'

(CNSNews.com) — House Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who has been labeled an anti-Semite by many of her critics, including the Republican National Committee, said Congress “can’t keep handing” billions of dollars in aid to Israel, “an apartheid state violating human rights.” 

Tlaib, who was first elected to Congress in 2019, made her remarks on the House floor on Jan. 11.

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today as the only Palestinian American serving in the United States Congress,” she said.  “I feel a strong responsibility, Mr. Speaker, to humanize the Palestinian people, who are living under increasingly oppressive and racist apartheid policies.”

“2002 was one of the deadliest in memory for Paletinians,” said Tlaib. “Dozens of children were killed by the government of Israel. And many were targeted, groups like DCI Palestine, who monitor these killings, targeted.”

Tlaib continued, “We cannot look away, Mr. Speaker, and gaslight the oppressive and violent policies toward the Palestinian people who are experiencing right now literally taking away their human dignity and their right to be able to freely live and raise their children without this type of targeting.”

“We can’t keep handing over billions each year to an apartheid state violating human rights,” she said. “And now we are dealing with a far-right government there now promising to make things worse. And they’re not even hiding it, Mr. Speaker.”

Tlaib, a Democratic Socialist like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), is a member of a far left-wing group of Democrats called “The Squad.”

In a tweet with a video of Tlaib’s remarks, the Republican National Committee Research office described the congresswoman as an “anti-Semite.” Ynet News journalist Emily Schrader tweeted, “Rashida Tlaib is at it again with her obsessive Israel hatred.”

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) tweeted, “Removing Ilhan Omar from important committees sends a powerful message that antisemitism will not be tolerated. We urge Speaker McCarthy to take the same action against Rashida Tlaib. She should be removed from committees as punishment for her bigotry.”

“Removing Ilhan Omar from important committees sends a powerful message that antisemitism will not be tolerated. We urge Speaker McCarthy to take the same action against Rashida Tlaib. She should be removed from committees as punishment for her bigotry.”https://t.co/Tm6uaexjbn

— Dan (@Dan19726) January 13, 2023

Yishai Fleisher, a spokesman for the Jewish community of Hebron in Israel, tweeted, “The Jihad Political Front’s @RashidaTlaib pretends to be a human rights defender and blames Israel for illiberalism all the while backing the terrorists who oppress the average Arab, would slaughter the Jews of the Jewish State, and seek to destroy America as we know it.”

Brooke Goldstein, executive director of the pro-Israel Lawfare Project, tweeted, “But in case you have a hard time remembering just how bigoted Rashida Tlaib is, Mehdi, here’s a reminder. 1. Rashida accused American Jews of dual loyalty — a classic antisemitic trope.”

In another tweet, Goldstein said, “It’s outrageous that @RepJeffries is silent in response to the malicious falsehoods about the closest ally of the US, Israel, that Rashida Tlaib is speading. Once again, an obsessive display of bigotry from Rep Tlaib. It’s time for the Democratic party to condemn her remarks.”

On the other side of the issue, supporters of Tlaib defended her remarks.  For instance, Palestine Online tweeted, “Rep. Rashida Tlaib got attacked and smeared by pro-Israel lobbyists for demanding the U.S. to end financial aid to Israeli apartheid during her speech at the US House of Representatives.”

The Jewish Voice for Peace Action tweeted, “Every year, @RashidaTlaib returns to the House floor to say what most others in Congress will not. We stand with her and we will keep fighting to end US complicity in Israeli apartheid.”

According to the U.S. State Department, “the United States annually provides $3.3 billion in Foreign Military Financing and $500 million for cooperative programs for missile defense.”

The State Department reported in 2021 that it provided “more than $360 million” in various forms of aid to the Palestinian people. “All of these funds will be administered in a way that benefit the Palestinian people — not Hamas,” a terrorist organization, “which has only brought misery and despair to Gaza,” said the State Department. 

The Biden administration supports a two-state solution to the ongoing conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. 

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