House votes to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib over remarks about Israel

WASHINGTON — The House on Tuesday voted to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib, rebuking the only Palestinian American member of Congress for her statements about Israel’s war with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.

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The resolution to censure Tlaib, D-Mich., passed by a 234-188 vote, The Washington Post reported. The resolution was introduced by Rep. Richard McCormick, R-Ga., who accused Tlaib of “promoting false narratives” and “calling for the destruction of Israel” after the Oct. 7 attack.

Twenty-two Democrats joined most of Republican House members in passing the censure vote, the Times reported.

Four Republicans voted against the censure, according to the newspaper. One Democrat and three Republicans voted “present.”

The resolution also cited Tlaib’s use of the phrase “from the river to the sea,” the Times reported. The slogan is a pro-Palestinian phrase that has been construed as calling for the eradication of Israel, and has been classified as antisemitic by the Jewish Defamation League, according to the newspaper.

According to the censure resolution, the phrase was “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.”

It was the second time in two weeks that Tlaib faced an effort to censure her, the Post reported.

The latest resolution came after a video Tlaib posted to social media that accused President Joe Biden of supporting the “genocide” of Palestinians. She also urged the president to support a cease-fire in the Middle East conflict or risk losing support in 2024.

During the debate before Tuesday’s vote, Tlaib defended her criticism of Israel’s government and asked for sympathy for Palestinians.

“I can’t believe I have to say this, but Palestinian people are not disposable,” Tlaib said. “The cries of the Palestinian and Israeli children sound no different to me.

“You can try to censure me, but you can’t silence their voices.”