U.S. congresswomen at odds
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz condemned U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s use of a “phrase (that) means eradicating Israel and Jews.”
Wasserman Schultz, of Florida, is the first Jewish woman from Florida elected to Congress. Tlaib, from Michigan, is the first Palestinian American woman to serve in Congress. Both are Democrats.
Tlaib has a history of comments about Israel that have been widely condemned by many of her colleagues. Her latest missive was launched Friday on social media. First, she posted a video in which she accused President Joe Biden of supporting a “genocide” of Palestinians and said that voters would remember, unfavorably, how he responded to the Israel-Hamas war when he’s facing reelection.
Tlaib subsequently posted this comment: “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.”
Wasserman Schultz forcefully countered Tlaib in her Sunday post on X, formerly known as Twitter:
“This phrase means eradicating Israel and Jews. Period. Dressing it up in a new PR ploy won’t change that. Only a return of hostages, eliminating Hamas and liberating Gaza from oppressive terror will save civilian lives and secure the peace, justice and dignity you seek,” Wasserman Schultz wrote.
U.S. Reps. Lois Frankel, a Palm Beach County Democrat, and Jared Moskowitz, a Broward-Palm Beach County Democrat, both of whom are also Jewish, didn’t name Tlaib or link to her in their social media reactions over the weekend.
But their messages were clear: “‘From the river to the sea’ is not inspirational, it’s aspirational. And the people who use it (like Hamas), call for the elimination of the State of Israel. The statement has no other meaning. Just like the term ‘Final Solution’ has no other meaning,” Moskowitz wrote Saturday evening. He also reposted Wasserman Schultz’s denunciation.
“‘From the river to the sea’ has historically been a call to wipe Israel off the earth; it does nothing to further peace. Hamas is committing acts of terror. They should release the hostages and surrender,” Frankel wrote Sunday afternoon.
Tlaib hit back Monday at fellow Democrats asking her to retract her defense of the controversial chant, saying her colleagues are trying to silence her.
“My colleagues are much more focused on silencing me — the only Palestinian American voice in Congress — than they are on ending the horrific attacks on civilians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank right now,” Tlaib said in a statement provided to The Detroit News.
“Instead of attacking me and distorting my words, they should listen to their constituents and call for a cease-fire to save innocent lives.”
The American Jewish Committee’s Translate Hate Glossary defines “From the River to the Sea” as a “catch-all phrase symbolizing Palestinian control over the entire territory of Israel’s borders, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.”
AJC said “ ‘From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free’ is a common call-to-arms for pro-Palestinian activists, especially student activists on college campuses. It calls for the establishment of a State of Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, erasing the State of Israel and its people. It is also a rallying cry for terrorist groups and their sympathizers … (including) Hamas, which called for Israel’s destruction in its original governing charter in 1988 and was responsible for the October 7, 2023 terror attack on Israeli civilians, murdering over 1,400 people in the single deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.”
AJC is led by former U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, who was a Democrat representing Broward and Palm Beach counties until he resigned to become the organization’s CEO last year.
On Saturday, Deutch endorsed social media posts from the state attorney general and president pro tem of the state Senate in Michigan, which Tlaib represents, condemning her comments.