House Democrats are growing increasingly alarmed by Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s comments that are critical of Israel, but so far, have stopped short of saying the Michigan Democrat deserves to be censured over her rhetoric.
Tlaib, the only Palestinian American member of Congress and an outspoken critic of Israel, roiled her colleagues with her recent use of an anti-Israel chant “from the river to the sea” in a video accusing President Joe Biden of supporting a Palestinian “genocide.” While the phrase is seen by many as a call for Jewish genocide in Israel and has been used by Hamas as a rallying cry, Tlaib has defended her comments, claiming that she views the phrase as “an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction, or hate.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, “of course I do” when asked by CNN if he has concerns over Tlaib’s use of the anti-Israel chant. But Jeffries did not answer when asked if he has expressed those concerns to the congresswoman.
Rep. Haley Stevens, a fellow Michigan Democrat, said she strongly disagrees with Tlaib’s use of the phrase, but said she doesn’t like the idea of censure, either.
Two Republican lawmakers have filed separate resolutions to censure Tlaib this week, after a similar effort failed last week. GOP leadership has two days to schedule a floor vote on the measures.
“I have been really careful, partly because our Michigan delegation is so small, and we work together,” Stevens told CNN. “I don’t want my job to be policing or responding for anyone’s statements.”
Rep. Debbie Dingell, also a Michigan Democrat, echoed a similar sentiment, saying she is uncomfortable with Tlaib’s rhetoric but doesn’t think censure resolutions are “helpful to anybody on either side.”
“I would not use that phrase. … But…
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