Republicans push to censure Rashida Tlaib over comments on Israel

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Republicans are pushing to censure Rep Rashida Tlaib over her comments on the recent attack on Israel that left over 1,200 Israelis dead.

Republican Rep Jack Bergman told The Detroit News he is pushing to have Ms Tlaib censured after she referred to Israel as an “apartheid” state and called for the US to halt funding for the country.

“Tlaib crossed a line too many times and was not interested in peer-to-peer input about how you could maybe be a little more respectful of the position you occupy and how it’s perceived by people,” Mr Bergman said.

“Especially in light of unfolding details that are coming out here (about the attack) — she still has a chance to make it right, but she chooses not to.”

Rep Bergman said he would like to see Ms Tlaib “dial back her rhetoric” and apologise or issue a retraction for her remarks. “There is no moral equivalence between Israel defending itself and Hamas attacking innocent Israeli civilians,” he said.

A number of international and Israeli rights groups have also described Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories as apartheid — a political system that segregates or discriminates based on race. Leading Israeli rights group B’Tselem classified Israel’s control of territory it seized in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as “apartheid” in a landmark report released in 2021. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have done the same in recent years.

Ms Tlaib has been contacted for comment.

Following the surprise invasion on Saturday morning, several members of the so-called “Squad” of progressive Democrats, including Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Cori Bush also used similar language to describe Israel.

Ms Omar, along with other members of the “Squad”, including Ayanna Pressley and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also called for a “ceasefire and de-escalation” in the Middle East.

Ms Tlaib, who is the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, wrote in her statement: “I grieve the Palestinian and Israeli lives lost yesterday, today, and every day. 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.”

She added: “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. We cannot ignore the humanity in each other.”

The comments from the lawmakers were quickly met with pushback, including from fellow Democratic Rep Ritchie Torres, who described the comments from members of his own party as “reprehensible and repulsive”.

Meanwhile, the White House has slammed members of the “Squad”, describing their remarks as “repugnant” and “disgraceful”.

“We believe they’re wrong. We believe they’re repugnant and we believe they’re disgraceful,” said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

She added: “Our condemnation belongs squarely with terrorists who have brutally murdered, raped, kidnapped, hundreds, hundreds of Israelis.

“There can be no equivocation about that. There are not two sides here. There are not two sides.”

The ambassador of Israel to the US also took aim at Ms Tlaib’s comments. “How much more blood needs to be spilled for you to overcome your prejudice and unequivocally condemn Hamas, a US-designated terror organization?” Michael Herzog said.

“Hundreds of innocent Israeli civilians massacred in cold blood on a holy day. Babies kidnapped from their mother’s arms and taken to Gaza. An 85-year-old woman in a wheelchair and a Holocaust survivor taken hostage. Is that not enough?” he continued.

Following the backlash, Ms Tlaib issued a statement responding to criticism of her remarks on the attacks, saying she does “not support the targeting and killing of civilians, whether in Israel or Palestine.”

“The fact that some have suggested otherwise is offensive and rooted in bigoted assumptions about my faith and ethnicity,” she added.

Hamas stormed into Israel early on Saturday morning, killing hundreds of people and taking dozens captive across the Gaza border in a devastating terror attack that caught the country’s security forces by surprise.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately declared a state of war and promised “mighty vengeance” on Israel’s attackers.

On Monday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered the “complete siege” of Gaza, saying authorities would cut electricity and block the entry of food and fuel until all the Israeli hostages are returned home.

Israeli officials have said that more than 1,200 people have been killed since the attacks began.

More than 1,300 Palestinians have also been killed in retaliatory Israeli airstrikes, according to Gaza officials.

At least 22 Americans have been killed since the violence began on Saturday, the US State Department has confirmed.