Washington- Progressive MPs face great pressure within CongressBecause of their position on the Israeli aggression on Gaza. The lobbies known for their hostility to Palestinian rights and their support for Israel do not tire of launching incitement campaigns against them, amid persistent attempts to remove them from the House of Representatives in the upcoming November elections, by fielding strong competitors who are generously funded by these lobbies.
Rashida Tlaib, a representative of Palestinian origin who represents the 12th District of Michigan, is at the top of those targeted by pro-Israel lobbies.
Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American in Congress, has been criticized since October 7, by Republicans and by many within her Democratic Party, due to what they considered insufficient condemnation of the attacks of the Islamic Resistance Movement (agitation) on civilians, while Tlaib affirms that she “does not support the targeting and killing of civilians, whether in Israel or Palestine.”
Tlaib threatens
Tlaib criticizes the US President’s support joe biden Unconditional support for Israel, and expressed its astonishment at his refusal not to call for a ceasefire and rescue civilians from the population. Gaza strip.
Tlaib threatened not to elect Biden in 2024, and said, “Mr. President, the American people are not with you on this matter. We will remember that in 2024.”
Tlaib noted in a statement, “The American people do not support financing war crimes – such as the use of white phosphorus bombs – and call for a ceasefire.
Tlaib said – in her statement – that “achieving a just and lasting peace in which Israelis and Palestinians enjoy equal rights and freedoms, and where no one lives in fear for their safety, requires ending the siege, occupation, and inhuman apartheid regime.”
The campaign against Tlaib intensifies
Some of Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s Democratic allies have begun speaking out against what they see as a departure from the anti-Israel script after she released a video on Friday accusing Biden of supporting “genocide” because of his support for Israel in its aggression against Gaza.
The pro-Israel Democratic Majority FI (DMFI) group financed a television advertisement broadcast on local stations in Detroit and its suburbs, where Representative Rashida Tlaib’s district is located, in which Tlaib was severely attacked, due to her calls for a ceasefire and her criticism of the Israeli government.
The announcement referred to Rashida’s vote against a draft law to renew the Israeli missile defense system.Iron Dome“In 2021, and against a decision to stand with Israel amid the ongoing war.
Members of the US House of Representatives are renewed through elections held every two years, and victory in the primary elections paves the way for Tlaib to run in the legislative election race next November, facing Republican Party candidates to maintain her seat in the House of Representatives.
“Detroit-area voters deserve to know the facts about her positions,” said DMFI President Mark Mellman. “Our ad clearly demonstrates her willful disregard for the safety of the citizens of Israel, one of the United States’ closest allies.”
While Dimitri Melhorn, a political advisor to billionaire businessman Reed Hoffman, one of the largest funders of Democratic candidates’ election campaigns, told Jewish Insider, “One very important aspect of this terrible moment is that it modestly increases the likelihood that we will be able to defeat some members of the Democratic Party.” Congress is one of them.”
Melhorn added, “Foreign policy is not usually an important electoral issue unless American forces are fighting a war, but Israel is the number one news story in the world at the moment, and opinion polls show that it is a prominent issue for a large majority of Americans.”
As the organization indicates AIPACthe largest Israel lobby organization in the United States, indicated that it was particularly willing to support the campaigns of candidates competing with Tlaib and other progressive representatives.
On the Republican side, an attempt led by Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene failed in the House of Representatives to adopt a resolution directing censure at Rashida Tlaib, claiming that Tlaib’s participation in the demonstrations seeking a ceasefire in Gaza amounted to “rebellion.”
The Council refused to move forward with the decision to censure Tlaib, which is the punishment that precedes expulsion from the House of Representatives, on the grounds of the right to express one’s opinion, which is the constitutional right mentioned in the First Constitutional Amendment.
From the river to the sea!
The anti-Rashida Tlaib campaign focuses on her support for the slogan “From the river to the sea… Palestine will be free,” a slogan repeated at all pro-Palestinian demonstrations around the world. Many Democrats considered that the phrase “from the river to the sea” was a call to eliminate the State of Israel, a denial of Israel’s right to exist, and a rejection of the two-state solution, as well as endangering the lives of Jews.
In an interview with CNN, progressive Senator Bernie Sander tried to defend Rashida in the face of pressure from broadcaster Dana Bash, and said that Tlaib “is a friend of mine and her family came from Palestine, and I think she is shaken, like all of us, about what is happening with them now. We have to.” To address this humanitarian crisis.”
At the same time, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel called on Tlaib to retract what she described as a “cruel and hateful” social media post.
Elissa Slotkin, the only Jewish representative from Michigan in the House of Representatives, and an ally of Tlaib, also asked that she review her language and expressions, and not use “language that inflames a tense situation and makes it difficult for our communities to find common ground.”
Tlaib defended her promotion of the slogan, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and described the slogan as “an ambitious call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction, or hatred.”
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