In a show of solidarity for arguably the most antisemitic member of congress, the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America is rallying around U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-12) after she was disciplined by her colleagues in a rare congressional censure.
The local chapter’s X account reposted the national organization’s screed over the U.S. House of Representatives vote last week to punish Tlaib. The House voted 234-188 for a resolution to censure the controversial lawmaker for “promoting false narratives regarding the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel” and “calling for the destruction of Israel.”
Several Democrats joined all Republicans in passing the censure, a rarely used form of congressional discipline just one step removed from expulsion.
Yesterday, in a shameful bipartisan attack, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 234-188 to censure Congresswoman @RashidaTlaib. Tlaib is a member and representative of DSA, and the only Palestinian-American member of the House. 1/9https://t.co/GRxJTCR4V7 pic.twitter.com/ajX9HHs526
— DSA (@DemSocialists) November 8, 2023
DSA insists Tlaib, who has spent her four-year tenure in congress pushing an anti-Israel agenda including the antisemitic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, is the victim of a “shameful bipartisan attack.”
“She has shown immense bravery in exposing the truth about Israel’s ongoing genocide of Palestinians while she endures vicious and racist attacks, which now extend to the halls of government,” states a press release from the DSA, of which Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American member of House, is a member.
The DSA and its Middle Tennessee chapter fail to note that Tlaib, who was slow to condemn Hamas’ barbaric terrorist attack that took the lives of more than 1,000 innocent Israelis, Americans and others, has spouted antisemitic comments for years.
Tlaib’s use of the chant “from the river to the sea” is “widely recognized as a genocidal call for violence to destroy the State of Israel,” the resolution states, although Tlaib asserts it’s an aspirational call for liberation. She has refused to correct or remove a tweet in which she repeated the lie that Israel bombed a hospital in Gaza, even after U.S. officials confirmed the rocket was fired by Islamic militants.
On Monday, the Washington Examiner reported that two men who held key positions at nonprofit groups that were found liable in a Hamas terror financing scheme helped organize campaign fundraising events for the congresswoman.
“The men, who organized events that were paid for by Tlaib’s campaign, were associated with a network of nonprofit groups that were found liable by a federal jury in 2004 for financing the terrorist slaying of an American teenager, David Boim, at a bus stop in the West Bank in 1996. A federal judge ordered the three groups to pay Boim’s parents a $156 million judgment for funding Hamas, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization,” the publication reported.
“The groups — the Holy Land Foundation, the American Muslim Society, and the Islamic Association for Palestine — never paid up. They shut down shortly after they were ordered to pay the landmark judgment to the Boim family,” the story noted. “The Holy Land Foundation ultimately had its monetary assets seized by the United States, and five of its leaders were sentenced to decades in prison in 2008, for providing material support to Hamas.”
DSA’s Middle Tennessee Chapter held its fifth weekly “All Out For Palestine Peace Rally” on Saturday at Centennial Park in Nashville.
More than 1,000 people turned out, as protesters marched along the West End and eventually gathered at the steps of the Parthenon.
The scene at today’s All Out for Palestine Peace Rally in Nashville: For the second Saturday in a row, crowds have gathered in Centennial Park and along West End calling for a ceasefire. pic.twitter.com/78PWiw9AqZ
— d. patrick rodgers (@dpatrickrodgers) November 11, 2023
During Middle Tennessee DSA’s third rally for Palestine on Oct. 29, protesters blocked pro-Israel counter-protesters waving Israeli and American flags as well as holding signs showing information about individuals kidnapped by Hamas.
Pro-Palestine demonstrations took place across the nation and world again over the weekend, with protesters calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s efforts to root out Hamas terrorists. Tlaib and fellow leftist U.S. Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO-01), are co-authors of a Ceasefire NOW resolution in the House.
Tlaib’s Democratic Socialists of America friends say the censure is not just about the anti-Israel congresswoman. They insist it was “designed to distract from the majority public support for a #CeasefireNOW and to intimidate anyone who criticizes American imperialism.”
“ It is part of an attempt to stifle the voices of the millions of people who have gone to the streets to demand a ceasefire and the millions who want peace and justice for the Palestinian people. But like Rashida, we will not back down. The Democratic Socialists of America stands in steadfast solidarity with the Palestinian people, with Muslim, Arab, and Jewish people around the world, and with Rashida,” the radical left organization declared.
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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Image “DSA Statement in support of Rashida Tlaib” by Democratic Socialists of America.
