Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan continues to display the Palestinian flag outside of her Congressional office as of Monday evening.
Tlaib, who has chastised Israel and American support for Israel at every opportunity, has had the flag displayed outside of her office since at least the start of the year, according to the Washington Examiner.
“I’m proud to be a Palestinian American and I want the Palestinian people to know that not all Americans support apartheid,” she said in a post on X on Jan. 25.
Palestinians may be banned from flying their flag under an apartheid government, but we can still proudly do it at my office. I’m proud to be a Palestinian American and I want the Palestinian people to know that not all Americans support apartheid. No one can erase our existence. pic.twitter.com/vuW5ciLo1k
— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) January 25, 2023
On Sunday, Tlaib issued a statement about Saturday’s slaughter of Israeli civilians at the hands of Hamas terrorists without condemning Hamas.
“I grieve the Palestinian and Israeli lives lost yesterday, today, and every day,” her statement began. “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. The failure to recognize the violent reality of living under siege, occupation, and apartheid makes no one safer. No person, no child anywhere should have to suffer or live in fear of violence,” she said.
“As long as our country provides billions in unconditional funding to support the apartheid government, this heartbreaking cycle of violence will continue.”
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Democratic Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri, a fellow member of the so-called “squad” of House progressives, on Saturday condemned the violence in general terms and then singled out Israel for scolding, according to The Hill.
“As part of achieving a just and lasting peace, we must do our part to stop this violence and trauma by ending U.S. government support for Israeli military occupation and apartheid,” she said.
Two fellow Democrats, Reps. Ritchie Torres of New York and Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, condemned the comments
“U.S. aid to Israel is and should be unconditional, and never more so than in this moment of critical need. Shame on anyone who glorifies as ‘resistance’ the largest single-day mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust. It is reprehensible and repulsive,” Torres said.
“Two of my colleagues called for America to end assistance to Israel, despite the countless images of Israeli children, women, men, and elderly, including Americans, murdered by radical Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists,” Gottheimer said in his statement.
“It sickens me that while Israelis clean the blood of their family members shot in their homes, they believe Congress should strip U.S. funding to our democratic ally and allow innocent civilians to suffer,” he said.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy jabbed House Democratic leaders for allowing anti-Semitic comments to flow from Democratic House members, according to the Washington Times.
“Allowing elected members of this body to speak anti-Semitism and not condemn it is wrong. To avoid it is wrong. As speaker, I watched a member on the other side of the aisle try to reserve a building in here to celebrate anti-Semitism,” he said.
McCarthy once blocked Tlaib from hosting a pro-Palestinian event in a House building
“I watched others yesterday continue those remarks. I watched the leadership on the other side stay calm. Have we not learned anything from history,” he said. “We must fight anti-Semitism in the United States.”
