Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, the Detroit-born daughter of Palestinian immigrants, is used to being a lightning rod for controversy given her support for the Palestinians and criticism of Israel — but now she’s at the center of this week’s heated political battle against the Israel-Hamas War .
Tlaib is known for his explosive rhetoric; he has used the phrase “from the river to the sea” despite warnings that the word is antisemitic and code for those who want the elimination of Israel.
A Jewish activist told The Post that he had said all the “most horrible things about Israel” there was and that Lee Zeldin, the Republican New York gubernatorial candidate who served with him in the House, called him “evil.”
A conservative activist raided Tlaib near his congressional office on Oct. 27asked if he would denounce Hamas.
Tlaib’s response was that he “defiled the humanity of the Palestinian people.”
He has long accused Israel of genocide. He also refused to apologize two weeks ago for saying Israel caused the hospital explosion in Gaza although US officials say they have proof it was a stray rocket launched by Hamas.
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib is pictured in her office with a Palestinian flag. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib/X Rashida Tlaib does not deny her claim that Israel bombed a hospital in Gaza at the start of the war – even though Israel says it has proof that Hamas did it.Rashida Tlaib
In 2019, Israel banned both Tlaib and US Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) from entering the country. President Donald Trump claimed both women hated “all Jews”; Tlaib accused him of trying to “incite a vile attack” by taking his comments “out of context,” and Omar said it was “an insult.”
On Wednesday, he survived a bid by fellow congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to have him censured for “antisemitic activities.”
Tlaib’s office did not respond to The Post’s request for comment but he has blasted the resolution as “disaffected” and said it was “deeply Islamophobic and offensive to peaceful Jewish anti-war advocates.”
Tlaib is described as a small child with his parents and younger brother. 13 more siblings will follow. Rashida Tlaib Tlaib is described as a child with three younger brothers. Rashida Tlaib
But the eldest of 14 siblings of Palestinian parents did not budge despite the criticism that hit him.
Tlaib’s father is from East Jerusalem and his mother left the West Bank town of Beit Ur al-Fauqa for the US in 1975, a year before he was born.
About a third of the village’s 900 residents are members of the extended Tlaib family.
US Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) is accompanied by her mother at the swearing-in ceremony of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in January 2019. AFP/Getty Images Rashida Tlaib’s maternal grandmother, Muftia Tlaib, is seen here outside her home in the West Bank village where hundreds of Rashida’s family members still remain.AFP via Getty Images
Born Rashida (meaning “fair”) Harbi Elabed, the 47-year-old congresswoman is very close to her mother, Fatima, who held the Quran for her when she was sworn in as a member of Congress.
Tlaib grew up speaking Arabic as his first language. His father, Harbi Elabed, a longtime auto worker at Ford, died a few years ago.
Tlaib graduated from Wayne State University in 1998 and from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 2004. Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, attended the same law school.
He immediately joined Democratic politics after law school, when he interned for State Representative Steve Tobocman. He then ran for his seat and won.
Tlaib celebrates with family and friends after his election to Congress in 2018.REUTERS
Tlaib was the first Muslim elected to the state legislature. In 2012, he won re-election to the Michigan House in the newly redrawn 6th district, another very safe Democratic seat.
When he was forced to drop out due to term limits in 2014, he lost his run for the state senate and landed his only non-political job of choice since graduating law school, at the Detroit-based Sugar Law Center for Economic & Social Justice .
His friend and former boss lawyer Tony Paris, told The Post: “He was a tireless advocate for people.
“He has long been an advocate for the downtrodden and the downtrodden. He has always been at the forefront of this issue and I believe history will vindicate his stance on this issue.”
Members of “The Squad,” – US Representatives Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Tlaib at a 2019 press conference they held in response to derogatory comments made about them by President Trump.CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
In 2018 he ran for Congress as a long-term Democratic representative. John Conyers was forced to quit due to sexual harassment allegations. He lost the primary for the special election, but won the primary for general for Michigan’s 12th Congressional district – a seat so safe from Democrats that he had no Republican challengers.
Her victory, and that of Omar, a Somali-American from Minnesota, made them the first Muslim women in the House.
Just before he was sworn in, he said of President Trump: “We’re going to impeach that mother.”
Tlaib’s uncle, Bassam Abdualla Tlaib, who still lives in the West Bank, told NBC News in 2018 after Rashida was elected to Congress that his niece had always been ambitious.
He was called “The Lawyer” at age 10 because of his incredible drive and effort to help people and desire to help everyone, he said.
US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) (top left) is sponsoring a measure that would censure Tlaib for what she says is antisemitism.Getty Images
But since entering Congress he has been a source of controversy – in almost equal measure for his outspoken socialist views and his opposition to Israel. He has long had a Palestinian flag outside his Congressional office.
“To say this loud and clear: Speaking out against Israel’s apartheid government is not hate speech,” Tlaib tweeted in June. “Attempting to silence those who speak the truth allows racism, oppression and violence to flourish.”
Tlaib struck a similar tone in response to Greene’s accusations against him.
“Marjorie Taylor Greene’s unrestrained rulings are deeply Islamophobic and attack peaceful Jewish anti-war advocates,” Tlaib said in a statement.
Rashida Tlaib with her two sons, Adam (right) and Yousif (front).Rashida Tlaib Rashida Tlaib’s ex-husband, Fayez Tlaib, once reposted memories of the 1982 massacre, calling former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon “the devil.” Fayez Tlaib
Some of Tlaib’s seven brothers and six sisters — as well as her ex-husband Fayez Tlaib, an American-Palestinian businessman whom she married in 1998 and divorced in 2015 and with whom she shares two sons, are just as fiery as she is.
In 2021, Fayez Tlaib called former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon “the Devil of Israel”.
A sister, Layla Elabed, retweeted the conspiracy theory that kidnapped Israeli soldier Ori Megidish, who was rescued from Gaza this week in a daring Israeli operation, is false.
Layla Elabed, Rashida’s younger sister, reposted the conspiracy theory on her Instagram that the rescue of a kidnapped Israeli soldier was fake.Layla Elabed
The majority of his siblings remain in the Detroit area. His brother, Ibrahem Elabed, is a senior manager at a non-profit organization there and another, Jacob, is a logistics manager.
But Tlaib’s enemies were many and did not answer when asked about him.
“He’s probably the most evil member of Congress I can think of in my life,” former congressman Lee Zeldin told The Post Tuesday.
“He has some competition with current and former members but he works hard to be in a bad league by himself.
Tlaib poses with his seven younger brothers at his brother Jacob’s wedding.Rashida Tlaib US Representative Rashida Tlaib with her six younger sisters.Rashida Tlaib
“When Hamas terrorists rape and kill and behead innocent Israelis, Rashida refuses to name Hamas in her statement, or condemn the evil deed and speak with any moral clarity in a moment that has never begun now.
“He is a Hamas sympathizer. He is the last type of person we should have in government speaking for American foreign policy, speaking for American values and leading in these very difficult times.”
Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, said, “Rashida is arguably the biggest Jew hater and Israel terrorist in Congress. After he was elected he walked around with the Palestinian flag.
“If you write the most horrible thing you can say about the state of Israel he said.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
