Tag Archives: Rashida Tlaib

Will House Dems Retaliate Against US and Israel Ambassadors?

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by Daveda Gruber:

On Saturday is was reported that House Democrats may use retaliatory moves on two diplomats over the decision to block Representatives Ilhan Omar D-MN., and Rashida Tlaib D-MI from traveling to Israel.

About twelve Senior Democratic Congress members have been reported to have been considering taking action against Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Ron Dermer, and David Friedman, the U.S. ambassador to Israel.

Allegedly, Democrats are considering a vote on legislative action against Dermer and opening an inspector general investigation into Friedman.

Back in the West Bank, Tlaib’s 90-year-old grandmother, Muftia Tlaib, used harsh words to send President Trump for his comments about the banned trip.

The elder Tlaib said, “Trump tells me I should be happy Rashida is not coming. May God ruin him.”

Here’s where I go off script for a moment. The Tlaib family is Muslim. The word used was most likely Allah and not God.

Omar and Tlaib are both Muslim. The two are also outspoken critics of Israel. They both support boycotts of the country.

In their plan to visit Jerusalem and the West Bank, Omar and Tlaib were going on a tour organized by a Palestinian organization aimed at highlighting the plight of the Palestinians.

The Israeli government blocked the planned trip but later said it would accept a humanitarian request from Tlaib to visit her Palestinian grandmother.

Tlaib’s reaction was that she would not travel to the West Bank to visit family. This was after getting permission hours  before from Israel’s interior minister.

President Trump had tweeted this:

Did Omar and Tlaib have good intentions for this trip? Only if you can decipher that it was going to be good for Palestinians because they were going to show the two freshman Congresswomen what they wanted the women to see.

After all, Omar and Tlaib’s tentative itinerary was titled “US Congressional Delegation to Palestine.” It never mentioned Israel.

Squad Members Blocked from Israel

 
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by Daveda Gruber:

House Representatives Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., have been blocked by Israeli officials from entering the country.

President Trump put pressure on Israel with concerns that the freshman Reps. support boycotts of Israel.

Trump tweeted:

The Israeli government was steadfast in defending their decision. They suggested that the lawmakers had ulterior motives with their planned trip.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, explained the decision at length on his office’s Twitter account.

He said, through tweets, that Tlaib and Omar’s itinerary “revealed that they planned a visit whose sole objective is to strengthen the boycott against us and deny Israel’s legitimacy.”

Netanyahu explained that their travel plans referred to a trip to “Palestine,” not Israel. The congresswomen were not interested in meeting with Israeli officials.

He went on to say that Israel welcomes critics with the exception of those who support boycotts of the Jewish State.

See the series of Netanyahu tweets here:

The decision was actually made by Interior Minister Arye Deri and was announced earlier Thursday by deputy foreign minister Tzipi Hotovely.

This came despite prior reassurances that the congresswomen would be allowed into Israel.

Hotovely said publicly, “Israel has decided we won’t enable the members of Congress to enter the country. We won’t allow those who deny our right to exist in this world to enter Israel. In principle, this is a very justified decision.”

If you remember, back in July, Omar and Tlaib were among 17 members of Congress who voted against a resolution condemning the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Now Netanyahu has confirmed that Deri would consider permitting Tlaib to visit her Palestinian family members under certain conditions.  She would have to file a humanitarian request and furthermore promise not to promote boycotts of Israel.

Trump tweeted this:

Needless to say, the Democrats don’t see this in the same light. They’re ranting and raving about this and taking the side of the Congresswomen who are two members of the “Squad” who we all know about.

Rashida Tlaib Wrote a Column for Louis Farrakhan

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by Daveda Gruber:

Anti-Antisemitism is lurking amongst new lawmakers in the House of Representatives. House Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-MI wrote a column  in 2006 entitled “Bills must stop deportations for minor offenses,” on The Final Call for Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

The Final Call is an online publication founded and maintained by Farrakhan.

Excerpts of what Tlaib, the freshman Palestinian American, wrote:

“Lost in the often-vitriolic national quarrel over immigration reform is any examination of proposed measures that would result in excessive punishment, such as detention and deportation, for the most minor offenses. Concern for “national security” has introduced unprecedented insecurity to living in the United States as a legal permanent resident.”

It’s easy to forget that detention and deportation have real and long-lasting effects on families. We are not able to see such negative effects right away, or immigrants fear speaking out.

After 9/11, fear between Arab and Muslim communities rose and remain widespread, as repressive policies seem to target particular nationalities.

Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) officials stated that this was part of a national operation to apprehend immigrants that committed violent crimes. However, reports from community members verified that ICE began knocking on neighboring homes one by one and took several people into custody without just cause.

There is no mention of these dangerous provisions in the debate. Over and over again, we hear about border security, legalization and national security, but there is no reference to maintaining our tradition and American values of keeping families together, providing a safe haven for the needy and advancing humanity.”

The full op-ed can be found HERE:

After publication, a spokesperson for Tlaib said in a statement, “As a former immigration attorney and advocate, Congresswoman Tlaib has published numerous articles about the need for immigrant rights. The goal was to educate citizens about the importance of passing just and humane immigration reform, which is still a priority for her district today.

The piece was from 2006 and was not an endorsement of Farrakhan or anyone for that matter. The Congresswoman has not had any direct contact with Farrakhan and condemns his anti-Semitic and anti-LGBTQ views.”

Tlaib later came under bipartisan criticism from Jewish groups for appearing with radical anti-Israel activists during her swearing in ceremony in Michigan. Some of the activists previously praised terror group Hezbollah and Palestinian terrorists saying that Israel has no right to exist.

Tlaib’s association with Farrakhan comes after strong criticism of her and other freshmen Democrats who have been accused of anti-Semitism.

Tlaib also has a prominent fundraiser who has partaken in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.

Tlaib’s Democratic colleague, another freshman, is Somali American Rep. Ilhan Omar D-MN. She has also faced similar criticisms for thoughtless remarks about Israel and Jewish advocacy groups in the United States.

So far, Democratic leadership has defended Tlaib and Omar. House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries D-N.Y. and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer D-MD dismissed concerns of anti-Semitism last month. Hoyer said, “I don’t know that I draw the conclusion that these two members are anti-Semitic. I don’t accept that.”

Farrakhan is open on his rhetoric. In 1984, Farrakhan praised Nazi leader Adolf Hitler when he said, “The Jews don’t like Farrakhan, so they call me Hitler. Well, that’s a good name. Hitler was a very great man.”

More recently Twitter took action against hate spewing Farrakhan when he shared a video warning about “Satanic Jews.” He wrote, “Will you recognize Satan? I wonder, will you see the Satanic Jew and the Synagogue of Satan, which has many races in it because Satan has deceived the whole world?”

His anti-Semitic vocabulary continued when he recently posted another video where he says that he wasn’t prejudiced against Jewish people but was simply “anti-Termite.”

Farrakhan and his followers went on a solidarity trip to Iran in November. In Iran he led “Death to America” chants. During the trip, Farrakhan told Iranian students that “America has never been a democracy,” and also led a “Death to Israel” chant at the end of his talk. This was reported by Iranian news agencies.

Antisemitism is not new in the U.S. or anywhere else, for that matter. The fact that it is out in the open and spewed regularly is disturbing.

It is pretty much still fresh in our minds what happened at the Tree of Life Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood where eleven congregants died when they were gunned down by Robert Bowers.