Rep. Rashida Tlaib is facing criticisms from all sides after posting a video featuring a rallying cry often used by Palestinian militants.
On Friday Tlaib posted a video slamming President Biden’s response to the war in Gaza.
The video featured a crowd chanting ‘from the river to the sea,’ a phrase used to call for a Palestinian takeover of the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, which includes Israel.
The chant is widely used by those who do not believe Israel has a right to exist.
'[Biden], the majority of the American people are not with you on this one. #CeasefireNow,’ Tlaib wrote on Twitter along with the clip.
Later Tlaib claimed on Twitter the phrase was not used to promote violence.
Reps. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., Hilary Scholten, D-Md., and Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., is circulating a letter among Democrats condemning use of the phrase. The letter reiterates Israel’s right to defend itself and its obligation to protect civilians.
‘We reject use of the phrase “from the river to the sea” - a phrase used by many, including Hamas, as a rallying cry for the destruction of the State of Israel and genocide of the Jewish people,’ a draft version of the letter, obtained by DailyMail.com, read.
Tlaib also faced criticism from fellow Michigan Democrat Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who demanded she express ‘empathy.’
‘The phrase ‘from the river to the sea’ is one of division & violence, & it is counterproductive to promoting peace. None of us, especially elected leaders, should amplify language that inflames a tense situation & makes it harder for our communities to find common ground,’ Slotkin wrote on Twitter.
‘If I knew that a phrase I’d used had hurt any of my constituents, I would apologize & retract it, no matter its origin. I’d ask the same from you.’
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., added: ‘This phrase means eradicating Israel and Jews. Period. Dressing it up in a new PR ploy won’t change that. Only a return of hostages, eliminating Hamas and liberating Gaza from oppressive terror will save civilian lives and secure the peace, justice and dignity you seek.’
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel tore into the congresswoman: ‘I have supported and defended you countless times, even when you have said the indefensible, because I believed you to be a good person whose heart was in the right place.’
‘But this is so hurtful to so many,’ she added. ‘Please retract this cruel and hateful remark.’
Michigan’s Democratic Senate President Pro Tem Jeremy Moss wrote on X of the comment: ‘This is not how Jews view the phrase ‘from the river to the sea.’ This is not how Hamas views the phrase ‘from the river to the sea.”
Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., defended Tlaib as Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., accused her of ‘calling for genocide of Jewish people.’
‘This is a lie. This rhetoric is dangerous and needs to stop,’ Bush wrote on X. ;This endangers the life of Rashida and Palestinians standing up for their liberation everywhere.’
On October 7 some 1,400 Israelis were killed in an attack launched by Hamas, according to the IDF. Some 10,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s bloody counter-attack to eradicate Hamas, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Neither figure has been independently verified.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., argued that lawmakers should not ‘quibble with words.’
‘What’s going on right now is a horror show,’ he said of the ongoing conflict.
‘We don’t have to quibble about words. Thousands of men, women and children are being killed. It has got to end right now.’
He called Tlaib a ‘friend of mine’ and noted her family ‘comes from Palestine.’
Pressed further on Tlaib’s comments, he said:
‘Words matter, but what matters more... is you have a horrible humanitarian disaster that has to be dealt with right now,’ Sanders said. ‘This is an enormously complex issue and slogans like ‘river to the sea,’ if that means that destruction of Israel, that’s not going to work. People who are saying ‘Israel right or wrong we’re for you all the way,’ that’s not going to work.’
But Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., reintroduced her resolution to censure Tlaib on Monday, accusing her of ‘antisemitic activity and sympathizing with terrorist organizations.’
Last week 23 Republicans voted against the resolution, taking issue with the language that accused Tlaib of inciting an ‘insurrection’ by speaking at a ceasefire protest on Capitol Hill.
Some 300 protesters were arrested at the protest.
Some Republicans took issue with use of the word ‘insurrection,’ and now the new resolution blames Tlaib for ‘inciting an illegal occupation.’
It also includes to her calling ‘from river to sea’ an ‘aspirational call for freedom.’
Meanwhile Rep. Rich McCormick, also a Republican from Georgia, introduced his own resolution to censure Tlaib.
McCormick voted to table Greene’s resolution last week. His resolution went against the Michigan Democrat ‘for promoting false narratives regarding 10/7 Hamas attack on Israel & calling for destruction for the State of Israel.’
The resolution does not make mention of the ceasefire protest.
On Sunday, Tlaib shared a report about three children being killed in an Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon and wrote to President Biden on her Instagram story: ‘Your silence is deafening. Your complicity is even worse,’ Tlaib wrote. ‘A whole generation of children is being wiped out in front of us.’
Tlaib, along with a number of other progressive Democrats, have been linked to popular imam Omar Suleiman, who has spouted anti-Semitic statements.
Suleiman has hosted virtual gatherings with Tlaib and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., gave a prayer before the House in 2019 after being invited by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and has been praised by Rep. Collin Allred, D-Texas.
In 2022, Suleiman was photographed at a meeting with two leading Jihadists in Malaysia.
In 2012, Suleiman was recorded as saying: ‘We ask Allah to humiliate this Israel, the way that Allah humiliated Beni Israel...We ask Allah to humiliate those who occupy the ‘land of Filastin [‘Palestine’].’
In 2013, Suleiman appeared in a YouTube video speaking about the ‘Bani Israel,’ an Islamic term for the Jewish people. He quoted an Islamic text as saying: ‘If it was not for Bani Israel, meat would not decay’ ... ‘food would never become stale.’ Suleiman summed up the idea, saying ‘The blessing of food that we see today decays and becomes stale and becomes rotten ... had it not been for Bani Israel, that even wouldn’t happen. So, we’re still seeing the effects of that today.
