House votes to condemn Rashida Tlaib’s West Bank comments in new resolution

House votes to condemn Rashida Tlaib’s West Bank comments in new resolution By<br><br> Daniella Diaz<br><br>October 17, 2023<br><br>Washington (CNN) — The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a resolution condemning a tweet from Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan in which she called for a "free Palestine from the river to the sea." The vote saw a unified GOP conference and split Democrats. The resolution passed with a vote of 270-161.<br><br>Republicans said the phrase Tlaib used amounts to calling for the elimination of Israel, while Democrats said the remark from Tlaib, who is of Palestinian descent, was misrepresented in the GOP resolution. Democrats also criticized the resolution for not condemning instances of what they called Islamophobic rhetoric from Republicans.<br><br>The resolution, which was sponsored by Republican Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri, condemns Tlaib’s remarks as well as what it called "increased antisemitism and acts of terror in the United States and abroad."<br><br>It specifically highlights a tweet Tlaib posted shortly after the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, in which she said: "I just want to enjoy the day in peace with my family but my heart aches for the countless Palestine families who were waiting for their loved ones to return home from prayer or work or school and never did."<br><br>"I stand in solidarity with the 2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip who are under siege and being terrorized by the Israeli regime right now!! From Detroit to Gaza a free Palestine will prevail soon inshAllah!! #FreePalestine #FreeGaza #GenocideIsNotWelcomeHere," she said.<br><br>"The Israeli regime along with their imposter friends in Congress are trying to detach my Palestinian identity from me. I will never let them. And neither will my district. I stand on the shoulders of giants — the bluest and most progressive district in the country. The people who elected a Palestinian from Southfield, Michigan because of their intersectional progressive values and their fight for justice," she also tweeted.<br><br>She later told a CBS reporter that Israel "is an apartheid regime," but declined to say if she believed that Hamas is a terrorist organization.<br><br>"This is colonization at its best. The media is just as complicit as the government is," she said.<br><br>The resolution also references former President Jimmy Carter’s remark in 2006 that Israel's oppression of the Palestinian people was "even more pervasive" than the racial segregation he experienced growing up in the South.<br><br>Republicans have long seized on comments from progressive members of Congress like Tlaib and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who is also of Middle Eastern descent and whom they have accused of making anti-Semitic remarks. Democrats in turn have criticized Republicans for failing to condemn some in their own ranks for instances of Islamophobia and using hateful rhetoric against Muslim members.<br><br>The vote follows a new wave of violence in Israel and Gaza, after a missile strike by Hamas killed over 1,200 people in Israel — the country’s deadliest attack in over 20 years.<br><br>In response, Israel carried out a barrage of airstrikes in Gaza, killing hundreds of Palestinians.<br><br>There have been no votes by Congress on aid to Israel since the outbreak of violence, as Democrats ask to combine such assistance with aid to Palestinians and the GOP has refused.