Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan is facing a censure in the House after Republican Representative Jack Bergman, also of Michigan, introduced a resolution on Wednesday.
The move comes after the progressive member of the “Squad” in the House made disparaging remarks about Israel following Hamas’ attack on the country last weekend. Tlaib, like many other members of the Squad, has a history of making such comments.
In introducing the censure resolution, Bergman said that Tlaib has a “long history of making anti-Semitic and anti-Israel remarks.”
In a statement announcing that he would formally bring the censure resolution, Bergman – who’s a 40-year veteran from the U.S. Marine Corps – said:
“As Hamas terrorists beheaded infants, paraded dead Jewish teenagers through town, and attacked innocent concert-goers in the most deadly day for Jews since the Holocaust, Representative Rashida Tlaib chose to place the blame solely on Israel and the Jewish people.
“There is no moral equivalence between Israel defending itself and Hamas attacking innocent Israeli civilians. Tlaib’s long history of anti-Semitic tropes and blatant anti-Jewish propaganda is both disturbing and evil – and should have no place in the halls of Congress.”
Tlaib, who is Palestinian-American, has long supported her people and said in a statement following Hamas’ attack:
“I am determined as ever to fight for a just future where everyone can live in peace, without fear and with true freedom, equal rights and human dignity. The path to that future must include lifting the blockade, ending the occupation and dismantling the apartheid system that creates the suffocating, dehumanizing conditions that can lead to resistance. …
“As long as our country provides billions in unconditional funding to support the apartheid government, this heartbreaking cycle of violence will continue.”
After Tlaib released her statement, Bergman posted a video response on social media platform X, in which he said:
“While we don’t all have to see eye-to-eye on every issue, I’d hope we can all agree that the terrorist raping women, murdering festivalgoers and decapitating babies is a crime against all of humanity, and we must be able to call out that kind of unbridled evil in the world.”
If the resolution passes through the House, Tlaib would not only be censured, but the House would reaffirm its support of Israel while also rejecting that the country is an “apartheid” state.
In addition to the inflammatory comments that Tlaib made this week following the horrific Hamas attack, she’s also coming under fire for flying a Palestinian flag outside of her office at the Capitol.
While that flag has been flying since January of this year at least, Fox News reported, many observers were particularly outraged that she left it up there in the wake of the attack on Saturday.
It’s uncertain when the censure resolution will be taken up in the House, as the lower chamber is in quite disarray following the ouster of Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his position. There is also no clear replacement for him.
