House Votes to Censure Rashida Tlaib Over Anti-Israel Comments

The House voted Tuesday night to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., for her inflammatory rhetoric surrounding the Israel-Hamas war.

In a 234-188 vote, the House adopted the resolution from Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., to censure Tlaib "for promoting false narratives regarding the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and for calling for the destruction of the state of Israel."

Twenty-two Democrats joined all but four Republicans in voting for the resolution. Four members, three Dems and one Republican, voted "present."

Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, teared up during floor debate on the measure earlier Tuesday as she delivered a passionate speech claiming her critical comments toward Israel have always been directed at the government, not the larger Jewish community. She said her efforts to defend Palestinian civilians whose lives are in danger because of the fighting between Israel and Hamas have been distorted.

"I can't believe I have to say this, but Palestinian people are not disposable," said a visibly upset Tlaib, choking back tears, prompting her fellow "Squad" member, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., the first Somali American in Congress, to comfort her on the House floor.

"We are human beings, just like anyone else," Tlaib continued as she regained composure with Omar still by her side. Omar has also been vocally critical of the Israeli government.

Tlaib supports a ceasefire in the war and said efforts to "bully or censure" her won't diminish that movement, which she said is "bigger than one person."

"The refusal of Congress and the administration to acknowledge Palestinian lives is chipping away at my soul," she said.

The floor debate came after an effort from Democrats to kill the resolution failed, 208-213.

A few hours later Tlaib participated in a bipartisan candle light vigil on the Capitol steps in which lawmakers prayed for Israel on the one month mark of Hamas' attack.

The censure resolution refers to comments Tlaib made immediately after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel, defending "resistance" to the "apartheid state." It also accuses her of spreading a false narrative that Israel intentionally bombed the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital on Oct. 17.

But the part of the resolution that registered most with members is its condemnation of Tlaib's recent social media video containing the phrase "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free." That phrase is "widely recognized as 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," the resolution notes.

Republicans and Democrats alike have condemned Tlaib for invoking the controversial battle cry. A group of more than six dozen Democrats released a statement minutes before the Tuesday afternoon vote to try to kill the measure that didn't mention her by name but condemned the use of "the river to the sea" in an apparent effort to provide cover for their votes.

Illinois Rep. Brad Schneider, who led that statement and was one of the Democrats who voted to censure Tlaib, said members of Congress are free to express their opinions but also need to measure their words. Tlaib, he claimed, "most certainly understands the import and impact of her words and yet still chooses to use them anyway."

While the censure resolution was not perfect, "it is the only vehicle available to formally rebuke the dangerous disinformation and aspersions that Rep. Tlaib continues to use and defend," Schneider said.

Censure proved to be a step too far for many in Tlaib's party, as well as a few in the GOP, who defended her constitutional right to free speech.

"At this moment when democracy is under siege all over the world, American must stand tall for the Constitution of the United States," Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said, defending Tlaib against "the punishment of speech."

But Republicans said her remarks crossed a line and she deserved rebuke.

"When you can call for the annihilation of a country and its people, if that's not worthy of a censure, what is?" McCormick said.