“Squad” member Rep. Rashida Tlaib berated President Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war during a surprise appearance at the “People’s Conference for Palestine” in Detroit Saturday, an event attended by members from at least one organization the US government considers a terrorist group.
Tlaib (D-Mich.), 47, who has long been sour on Biden, 81, accused him of being an “enabler” of “murderous war criminal [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu” and didn’t pull any punches against her fellow Democrats, either.
“President Biden says what’s happening in Gaza is not a genocide. Where’s your red line, President Biden?” she bellowed as the crowd erupted in thunderous boos against the president.
“Every single bullet, every single gun, every single weapon — bombs that we send, is a sacrifice of our own schools here at home,” she went on.
The event was held at the Huntington Place convention center in the Motor City. Also in attendance were figures affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a Marxist-Leninist organization designated as a terrorist group by the US and several other governments, per the Jerusalem Post.
Tlaib, who is the first female Palestinian American to serve in Congress as well as one of the first two female Muslim women in the lower chamber alongside Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) suggested that anti-Israel protesters are owed an apology.
“I’ll be damned if I wait 10 years before they apologize to all of you for doing what was right at this moment,” she said.
She tore into many of her fellow Democrats as well as Biden for condemning destructive elements of anti-Israel protests that consumed college campuses around the country in recent weeks.
“It is disgraceful that the Biden administration and my colleagues in Congress continue to smear them for protesting to save lives no matter faith or ethnicity. It is cowardly. But we’re not gonna forget in November, are we?” she declared.
Back in February, Tlaib’s younger sister Layla Elabed spearheaded a campaign to vote “uncommitted” against Biden during the Democratic primary in protest of the Israel-Hamas war.
Tlaib endorsed the endeavor, but she has been coy about whether she will back him in November.
Ultimately, over 100,000 Michiganders marked themselves as “uncommitted” in protest of Biden. A host of other states have been home to similar revolts among progressives as Democrats grapple with deep internal divisions over Israel.
Allies of Biden have highlighted divisions on the Republican side as tens of thousands continued to vote for former presidential hopeful Nikki Haley months after she dropped out.
Biden has also sought to thread the needle by publicly backing Israel’s efforts to defeat Hamas while also calling for restraint. For example, he has chafed with Israel over plans to roll into the refugee-dense southern Gazan city of Rafah without what he describes as an adequate plan for civilians.
Last week, a prosecutor at the International Criminal Court announced his intention to pursue an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as several Hamas leaders including Yahya Sinwar over the Israel-Hamas war.
Biden quickly rebuked the warrant push and was emphatic that the military operation in the Gaza Strip, which was prompted by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 surprise attack that killed 1,200 Israelis, is “not genocide.”
Congress, which is on a one-week recess, is expected to vote on sanctions against the ICC. The arrest warrants still must be approved by a judge in order to go into effect.
“Attacking the authority of the International Criminal Court and interfering in the legal process is nothing more — nothing more — than an attempt to prevent the genocidal maniac Netanyahu and his senior Israeli officials from being held accountable for those crimes against humanity,” Tlaib fumed.
“You are an enabler, President Biden.”
After video of Tlaib’s remarks swirled on social media, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) called for her removal from Congress.
