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House Votes to Censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib Amidst Divisions on Israel-Hamas War
Edited by: Fern Sidman
In a significant development, the House of Representatives voted to censure Representative Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat from Michigan, on Tuesday, marking a formal rebuke to the sole Palestinian American in Congress for her statements regarding the ongoing war that the Hamas terror organization launched against Israel last month, as was reported by the New York Times.
The censure resolution passed with the support of 22 Democrats, alongside most Republicans, by a vote of 234 to 188. Four Republicans voted against censuring Rep. Tlaib, while one Democrat and three Republicans voted “present,” choosing not to take a position.
The NYT report indicated that the resolution accuses Rep. Tlaib of “promoting false narratives” surrounding the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and of “calling for the destruction of the state of Israel.” The debate surrounding this censure reflects the deep divisions within the Democratic Party regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict. While some Democrats support Israel, there is growing pressure from progressive members of the party to call for a cease-fire and shift the focus towards the purported suffering of the Palestinian people amidst rising civilian casualties and a worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Substantiated evidence has surfaced that the Iranian backed Hamas terror organization intentionally places Palestinian residents of Gaza in harm’s way by using them as human shields and propaganda tools against Israel in the court of public opinion.
Rep. Tlaib has been one of the most vocal members of Congress advocating for such a shift in perspective.
The censure resolution was introduced by Representative Rich McCormick, a Republican from Georgia, and it contends that a statement made by Rep. Tlaib following the Hamas attack on Israel that left over 1400 dead, “defended” terrorism. As was reported by the NYT, the resolution also cites her use of the phrase “from the river to the sea,” a pro-Palestinian slogan that some view as a call for the eradication of Israel and has been considered anti-Semitic by the Anti-Defamation League. The NYT reported that the resolution characterizes this phrase as “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.”
Rep. Tlaib has defended her use of the slogan, stating that it represents an aspiration for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, rather than death, destruction, or hate.
During the debate on the resolution, Rep. Tlaib grew emotional on the House floor as she reiterated her calls for a cease-fire and defended her criticism of the Israeli government, as was noted in the NYT article. She also pleaded for empathy for the plight of the Palestinian people, emphasizing that the suffering of Palestinian and Israeli children sounded no different to her. The report in the NYT said that she clarified that her criticism was directed at the Israeli government, not the Israeli people, and warned her colleagues that the movement calling for a cease-fire was growing stronger every day.
The debate exposed divisions within the Democratic Party, with progressive lawmakers, many of them women of color, standing in solidarity with Rep. Tlaib. According to the NYT report, Representative Ayanna S. Pressley, a Democrat from Massachusetts, defended Rep. Tlaib and criticized the resolution as “blatantly Islamophobic, anti-democratic, and an utter waste of time.”
On the other hand, some Democrats condemned Rep. Tlaib’s statements. Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York stated that echoing slogans that are perceived as calling for the complete destruction of Israel does not contribute to a two-state solution but risks polarization, division, and incitement to violence, the NYT reported.
Representative Brad Schneider of Illinois, a lone Democrat who aligned with Republicans in a vote earlier in the day, accused Representative Rashida Tlaib of attempting to manipulate public perception and provide cover for those employing the controversial “from the river to the sea” slogan, the NYT report noted. Mr. Schneider emphasized his commitment to defending the right to free speech while arguing that Rep. Tlaib’s statements should not go unanswered.
Last week, the House rejected a different censure resolution against Rep. Tlaib, introduced by Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia. That resolution had accused Rep. Tlaib of engaging in “anti-Semitic activity” and labeled an October 18 protest in a House office building, during which Rep. Tlaib had accused Israel of genocide, as an “insurrection,” the NYT reported. Ms. Greene later reintroduced her censure resolution with an amendment referring to the October 18 protest as an “illegal occupation” of a House office building. However, she withdrew the resolution after the House voted in favor of Representative Rich McCormick’s measure to censure Rep. Tlaib, the NYT report added.
Representative Ken Buck, a Republican from Colorado, opposed Ms. Greene’s resolution last week and reiterated his stance, expressing reluctance to support censure motions unless the conduct being censured is of a particularly serious nature, as was indicated in the NYT report, He suggested that other bodies, such as the Ethics Committee, should be involved in examining such issues.
Historically, it is rare for a member of Congress to face censure, which represents a public reprimand one step below expulsion. Prior to June, the House had censured its members only 24 times throughout its history, as was noted in the NYT report. However, in recent months, censure resolutions have been increasingly used to trade criticisms and partisan blame across party lines.
In the aftermath of a month of legislative inaction due to a tumultuous speaker’s race, the House began its legislative business with consecutive censure resolutions. Since then, at least three more censure resolutions have been introduced, the NYT reported. These measures are privileged under House rules, taking precedence over other legislative business and not being subject to the discretion of congressional leaders.
