U.S. Reps. Cori Bush and Rashida Tlaib were called on the carpet by a fellow Democrat for their “reprehensible and repulsive” characterization of the deadly attacks against Israel.
Tlaib and Bush as well as other members of the so-called “Squad” in Congress have come under fire for their comments following the Hamas offensive against Israel on Saturday, launching the deadly terror attack on a Jewish holiday and, notably, a day after the anniversary of the Yom Kippur war. Rep. Ritchie Torres called his colleagues out for their antisemitism in a blistering statement on Sunday.
While Tlaib was noticeably mum in the immediate aftermath of the attack, leading some to accuse her of giving her “tacit support” to the terrorists, the far-left congresswoman eventually came out with her own response essentially blaming Israel, which she referred to Israel as an “apartheid government” for their own demise.
Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American member of Congress, was joined in her vitriol by Bush who echoed her demands that the U.S. cease its “unconditional funding” of Israel, a key ally in the volatile Middle East.
“I grieve the Palestinian and Israeli lives lost yesterday, today, and every day. I am determined as ever to fight for a just future where everyone can live in peace, without fear and with true freedom, equal rights, and human dignity,” Tlaib said in a statement on Instagram.“The path to that future must include lifting the blockade, ending the occupation, and dismantling the apartheid system that creates the suffocating, dehumanizing conditions that can lead to resistance.”
Statement from @RepRashida Tlaib pic.twitter.com/1GdpREtLqZ
— Melissa Nann Burke (@nannburke) October 8, 2023
Despite the violent and unprecedented surprise attack by Hamas, involving a barrage of rockets which led Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to declare that Israel was at “war,” Tlaib offered no condemnation of the Palestinian militant group.
Speaking to Jewish Insider reporter Marc Rod, Rep. Torres leveled the Israel critics.
“U.S. aid to Israel is and should be unconditional, and never more so than in this moment of critical need,” the Democrat representative for New York’s 15th congressional district said.
“Congress must act decisively to provide Israel with whatever it needs to defend itself in the face of unprecedented terrorism,” he added. “Shame on anyone who glorifies as ‘resistance’ the largest single-day mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust. It is reprehensible and repulsive.”
.@RepRitchie responds to comments from Reps. Bush and Tlaib on the situation in Israel. “Shame on anyone who glorifies as “resistance” the largest single-day mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust. It is reprehensible and repulsive.”
Full statement: pic.twitter.com/KP0L1eAnNU— Marc Rod (@marcrod97) October 8, 2023
Back in July, Tlaib and Bush along with other Squad members had openly boycotted a joint address to Congress by Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
AOC leads pack of ‘anti-Semitic radicals’ in giving the middle finger to Israel https://t.co/dGT23IqiA0 via @americanwire_
— Bo Snerdley (@BoSnerdley) July 19, 2023
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who became one of the first female Muslim members of Congress along with Tlaib when they were sworn in in 2019, issued a statement Sunday that named Hamas directly.
“I condemn the horrific acts we are seeing unfold today in Israel against children, women, the elderly, and the unarmed people who are being slaughtered and taken hostage by Hamas,” Omar said in a statement Saturday.
I condemn the horrific acts we are seeing unfold today in Israel against children, women, the elderly, and the unarmed people who are being slaughtered and taken hostage by Hamas. Such senseless violence will only repeat the back and forth cycle we’ve seen, which we cannot allow…
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) October 7, 2023
“We need to call for de-escalation and ceasefire. I will keep advocating for peace and justice throughout the Middle East,” she added.
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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