Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) has come under fire for accusing Israel of “apartheid” and “stealing Palestinian homes and burning their lands,” and spreading the lie Israelis had set fires to Palestinian fields.
“@RashidaTlaib, you shared a falsehood about Israeli Jews setting fire to Palestinian fields. This ugly claim has been retracted. You’re a member of Congress. Take down your tweet. Or is it okay to perpetuate untruths when they fit your policy agenda?” the American Jewish Committee (AJC) tweeted Thursday.
Tlaib retweeted an article that cited Palestinian media sources and a tweet posted Tuesday by the radical left-wing NGO B’Tselem, which shared a dramatic image of the blaze and said Israeli “settlers” were to blame.
“Stealing Palestinian homes and burning their lands. The actions of an apartheid state. We cannot stand by and watch this happen,” Tlaib wrote, tagging the account of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “Billions of US taxpayers dollars support Netanyahu’s government and this racist violence. We must condemn this swiftly.”
It later emerged the fires were actually started by Palestinian arsonists.
According to the Jerusalem Post, B’Tselem acknowledged that the “The fires in Burin tonight are being re-examined. I will update with any new information I have,” but that no updated information followed.
The Samaria Regional Council, the umbrella organization for settlements in that region of West Bank, said it would sue B’Tselem for slander.
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