Rashida Tlaib, the Only Palestinian Member of Congress, Says Critics Distorted Her Israel Statement

Source: Jezebel

Rashida Tlaib, the Only Palestinian Member of Congress, Says Critics Distorted Her Israel Statement

“If anything my voice is needed here more than ever," she told the Detroit Free Press, as some of her colleagues seek to censure her.

By Kylie Cheung
Published Yesterday

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the lone Palestinian American member of Congress, on Wednesday spoke to the Detroit Free Press about her colleagues’ motion to censure her, following a statement she made over the weekend mourning lives lost in the conflict between Israel and Palestine and calling for an end to “apartheid” in the region. A fellow member from Michigan, Rep. Jack Bergman (R), filed the motion against her on Wednesday.

After the Hamas attacks on Saturday—which left more than 1,200 dead and included the kidnapping of roughly 150 people—Tlaib said that Israel’s “apartheid system” is what “creates the suffocating, dehumanizing conditions that can lead to resistance” in Palestine. She continued: “The failure to recognize the violent reality of living under siege, occupation, and apartheid makes no one safer. ... As long as our country provides billions in unconditional funding to support the apartheid government, this heartbreaking cycle of violence will continue.”

Tlaib told the Free Press that her original comments had been distorted by critics, and said the violence committed by Hamas amounts to “war crimes.” But the “collective punishment of Palestinians” is also a war crime, she said.

“The violence needs to stop,” Tlaib said. “We need to follow international laws that protect the innocent. We can’t allow one group to [claim] the justification of more war crimes. Palestinian and Israeli lives are directly impacted if we don’t push to stop the violence.”

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Read more: https://jezebel.com/rashida-tlaib-israel-palestine-war-crimes-1850922102