The House of Representatives voted Tuesday night to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) for defending the Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7. against Israel as “resistance” and calling for the destruction of the Jewish state.
Tlaib is the 26th member of Congress to be impeached by the House in the legislature’s history.
The censure vote, which was initially scheduled for Wednesday, appears to have been moved up after the office of Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.) – the congressman who introduced the resolution – received death threats.
“I take my team’s safety seriously. I am temporarily closing my physical district office location in Cumming, GA due to a serious terrorist threat against my staff. This threat has been reported to the Capitol Police and will be fully investigated,” McCormick said in the X post.
McCormick’s resolution passed in a 234-188 vote, with four voting members present.
Twenty-two Democrats voted with 212 Republicans to censure Tlaib, and four Republicans voted with 184 Democrats against the resolution.
The House denounced Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) for defending Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel as “resistance” and calling for the destruction of the Jewish state.REUTERS
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) withdrew a separate bill intended to censure Tlaib, telling reporters Tuesday that he “will not be part of a competing resolution of censure because the leadership failed to organize it.”
“So, for me, I decided to pull it. He’s getting more and more criticism, that’s what I want to do,” the Georgia Republican added.
“Most people think it’s my resolution,” he said of McCormick’s move.
Tlaib was not required to stand in the well of the House and be admonished by the speaker, as was the case traditionally.
The resolution cited Tlaib’s November 3 video broadcast on X, which included the first part of the phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” a call to eliminate Israel.Twitter/@RashidaTlaib
Action by Democratic lawmakers to kill the resolution against “Squad” representatives failed 213-208, with 202 Democrats and GOP Representatives. Ken Buck of Colorado, John Duarte of California, Mike Garcia of California, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Tom McClintock of California, and Ryan Zinke of Montana voted in favor.
Every other Republican — except Anthony D’Esposito of New York, Daniel Webster of Florida and Jim Banks of Indiana, who were all absent — voted against the introduction of censure.
Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.) voted in attendance, and eight other Democratic lawmakers were absent.
McCormick’s resolution noted Tlaib’s “false narrative” surrounding the October 7 attacks, in which jihadists slaughtered 1,400 civilians in Israel — including at least 33 Americans.
The resolution, introduced by Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.), noted Tlaib’s “false narrative” surrounding the October 7 terrorist attacks, which killed 1,400 civilians in Israel.ZUMAPRESS.com
Most recently, the resolution mentioned Tlaib’s video on November 3 post on Xwhich included the first part of the phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” a call for the annihilation of Israel that was later “doubled”.
Tlaib responded by saying the phrase was “an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction, or hatred.”
Seventy House Democrats signed a statement led by Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) following floor discussion on Tuesday rejected the use of the phrase, declaring it a “rallying call for the destruction of the State of Israel and the genocide of the Jewish people.”
“We support Israel’s right and duty to defend itself – to protect its people, to protect its borders, and to rescue its hostages in Gaza,” the statement said. “Israel also has an obligation to, to the best of its ability, protect civilians, and in all its actions to comply with international humanitarian law (even if Hamas completely ignores it).”
House Democrats led by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) denounced the resolution as an attempt to silence the voice of the only Palestinian-American elected to Congress. AFP via Getty Images
The resolution also states the Michigan Democrat “defended the brutal rape, murder, beheading and kidnapping – including of Americans – by Hamas as justified ‘resistance'” within 24 hours of the attack.
The condemnation further mentions the lies Tlaib spread about the October 17 Al-Ahli Arab Hospital bombing, which he claimed was carried out by Israeli forces – despite President Biden and the US intelligence community assessing with “high confidence” that it was caused by Palestinian Islamic Jihad linked to Hamas.
Democrats, led by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), denounced the resolution as an attempt to silence the voice of the only Palestinian-American elected to Congress during the floor debate after the vote.
The condemnation further mentions Tlaib’s lies that were spread about the bombing of Al-Ahli Arab Hospital on October 17 by the Israeli army. Rashida Tlaib
“This resolution is about one thing and one thing only: the punishment of speech,” Raskin said. “We don’t punish people for their political ideas, no matter how wrongheaded or offensive they are.”
“Punishment from a political point of view means members will be censured just for being in the minority and not the majority,” he added.
Other “Squad” representatives Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) also denounced House Republicans, with Pressley calling the criticism “Islamophobia.”
Other GOP lawmakers pointed to antisemitism being at an all-time high in the US and the massive protests that took place in Washington, DC, last weekend in support of Hamas’ actions.Getty Images
Tlaib defended his remarks in a brief statement from the floor, claiming that Republicans were twisting his words.
“I will not be silent, and I will not let you twist my words,” Tlaib said. “Trying to bully or censor me will not work because this ceasefire movement is much bigger than one person. It’s growing every day.”
But McCormick and Republicans said the resolution was within the precedent of previous condemnations voted down by the House and was simply concerned with holding Tlaib accountable for his statements.
“We saw over 200,000 people rallying in support of the terrorist organization Hamas who committed these atrocities in Israel,” said Rep. Derrick Van Orden. “They are destroying our national monuments. Getty Images
“This is not about a First Amendment issue. Rashida Tlaib has every right to spew antisemitic vitriol, even calling for the destruction of the Jewish state,” McCormick told members.
“But the Dewan Rakyat also has the right to clarify that his hate speech does not reflect the opinion of the House. And that is this resolution,” he said.
“When you have called for the destruction of a country and its people — if that is not worthy of condemnation, what is?”
Other GOP lawmakers pointed to antisemitism at a decades-old high in the US and the massive protests that took place in Washington, DC, over the weekend in support of Hamas’ actions.
“We saw over 200,000 people rallying in support of the terrorist organization Hamas who committed these atrocities in Israel,” said Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.), who visited the Jewish state after the attack.
“They damaged our national monuments and the White House. But most alarmingly, in this House, the House that freed men from slavery and women’s suffrage, we have members who not only support this organization, Hamas, that slaughters these Jews, but have actively called for the extermination of Jews. by promoting the slogan from ‘river to sea’ on social media.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
