On Tuesday evening, the House of Representative finally told the world that enough is enough, censuring Representative Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat from Michigan and the only Palestinian American in Congress. She received a formal reprimand for her comments calling for the genocide of Israel.
Twenty-two Democrats joined most Republicans to pass the resolution, which accuses Ms. Tlaib of “promoting false narratives” surrounding Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel and of “calling for the destruction of the state of Israel.” The vote was 234 to 188. Four Republicans voted against censuring Ms. Tlaib, while one Democrat and three Republicans voted “present,” declining to take a position, wrote The New York Times.
The Democratic support for reprimanding one of their own reflected an increasingly intense division in the party over the Israel-Hamas war. While many Democrats are staunchly supportive of Israel, there is mounting pressure from the progressive left to call for a cease-fire and focus on the suffering of the Palestinian people in the face of ballooning civilian deaths and a worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Ms. Tlaib has been by far the most vocal member of Congress to do so.
The measure, offered by Representative Rich McCormick, Republican of Georgia, argued that a statement Ms. Tlaib made 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 cited Ms. Tlaib’s embrace of the phrase “from the river to the sea,” a pro-Palestinian rallying cry that many regard as calling for the eradication of Israel and has been deemed antisemitic by the Anti-Defamation League. The resolution called 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.”
Our intel was clear… pic.twitter.com/UcuUajXIxb
— Congressman Rich McCormick, MBA MD (@RepMcCormick) November 8, 2023
On the House floor, leftwing Democrats surrounded Ms. Tlaib and embraced her, likely telling her it would be alright and that she’d be allowed to continue spewing antisemitic hatred and fundraising with Hamas.
In Georiga, however, progressive activists showed their true colors. Fox 5 in Atlanta reported Republicans had decided to move their McCormick’s proposed censure of Tlaib up in the schedule because his office had been threatened by activists.
The Georgia congressman announced that he had been forced to close his office in downtown Cumming after receiving threats.
I take the safety of my team seriously. I am temporarily closing my physical district office location in Cumming, GA due to serious threats of violence against my staff. These threats have been reported to Capitol Police and will be investigated fully.
We will still be working…
— Congressman Rich McCormick, MBA MD (@RepMcCormick) November 7, 2023
Political commentator Erick Erickson, an Atlanta native, explained that the congressman was right to take the threats seriously because Antifa had recently been firebombing businesses in the area.
They moved it up to tonight after word got out of threats to its sponsor, which necessitated Congressman McCormick shutting his office in metro Atlanta, where Antifa members have been firebombing businesses. https://t.co/wFCocbEIUq
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) November 8, 2023
22 Democrats joined Republicans in the effort to censure Tlaib. The Michigan congresswoman has asserted that Joe Biden supports genocide because he believes Israel has the right to defend itself against terrorist attacks.
In response to the charge, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre treated Tlaib like a middle schooler who uttered a naughty word.
They have to talk about Tlaib like she's a 5th grader. https://t.co/SC9dFHIses
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) November 8, 2023
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