House Censures Rep. Rashida Tlaib For Comments About Israel

The House voted to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D- Michigan) over her criticism of Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas and its effects on the Palestinians by a vote of 234 to 188.

The censure resolution was introduced by Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Georgia) after Democrats failed to block it earlier.

The push for Tlaib’s censure resolution began after she delivered a passionate speech on the House floor about her criticism of the Israeli government.

“It is important to separate people and governments. No government is beyond criticism. The idea that criticizing the government of Israel is antisemitic sets a very dangerous precedent, and it’s been used to silence diverse voices speaking up for human rights across our nation,” she said.

“I can’t believe I have to say this, but Palestinian people are not disposable,” she continued with a shaky breath. “We are human beings just like anyone else.”

Although a censure resolution does not remove a member from the House, it is a significant form of punishment in the House.

A variety of Democrats have disapproved of the congresswoman’s defense of the well-known pro-Palestinian chant “from the river to the sea.”

According to the Anti-Defamation League, the chant is considered to be “an antisemitic slogan” that has been used by anti-Israel groups such as Hamas.

Tlaib has written on X: “From the river to the sea is an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction, or hate. My work and advocacy is always centered in justice and dignity for all people no matter faith or ethnicity.”

McCormick’s resolution states that the chant is “widely recognized as a genocidal call to violence to destroy the state of Israel” and that Tlaib continued to “knowingly spread the false narrative that Israel intentionally bombed [a hospital].”

After the vote, Tlaib said, “Rather than acknowledge the voice and perspective of the only Palestinian American in Congress, my colleagues have resorted to distorting my positions in resolutions filled with obvious lies.”