House Democrats continue silence over Tlaib's anti-Israel retweet

House Democrats continue silence over Tlaib's anti-Israel retweet

Daniel Molina
Daniel Molina
|
December 4, 2020

The always controversial Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D) has received criticism from Republicans after tweeting the anti-Israel “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” quote, which many have taken as Tlaib supporting and promoting the destruction of the state of Israel.

The "river to the sea"  quote is a known pro-destruction of Israel saying that has existed since the 1060's

However, now Democrats are being called out for not denouncing Rep. Tlaib’s comments, and many are pointing to recent remarks that Democrats have made denouncing anti-semitic comments as being hypocritical.

In response to the American Jewish Committee’s effort to combat anti-Jewish hatred on the internet, Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D) commented that “the rise in anti-Semitic posts across the internet is undeniable,” adding that “anti-Semitism is a global crisis and that’s why I joined a multinational coalition to form the Inter-Parliamentary Task Force to Combat Online Antisemitism.”

The sunshine state lawmaker concluded that “Global issues require global solutions.”

 House Democrats are eerily silent over Tlaib's anti-Israel tweet as reported first by The Jerusalem Post.

However, Republicans like Florida Rep. Brian Mast (R) took offense at Rep. Tlaib’s tweet, and the veteran lawmaker, himself a former volunteer in the Israeli Defense Forces, admitted to the Floridian that “it’s nothing new that she’s an anti-semitic person that seems to hate Israel.”

Rep. Mast added that members like Rep. Lois Frankel, who endured a tough reelection challenge from Conservative Journalist Laura Loomer,  are too afraid to call out Tlaib and Rep. Ilhan Omar, who has also made anti-Israel and anti-Semitic remarks, for fear of reprisals by the influential Progressive Caucus members.

Now many are questioning why Jewish-American members of Congress like Florida Reps. Wasserman Schultz, Lois Frankel, and Ted Deutch won't condemn the comments as well.

Since drawing controversy, Rep. Tlaib deleted the tweet, and Florida Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D) responded to the now-deleted tweet by reaffirming that she is “committed to the US-Israel relationship," but fell short of denouncing Tlaib.

The Floridian has reached out for comment to Reps. Deutch and Wasserman Schultz, but have not heard back.

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Daniel Molina

Daniel Molina

Daniel Molina is an award-winning senior reporter based in Miami. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Florida International University. His hobbies include reading, writing, and watching films.

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