One of the two first Muslim women to be elected to Congress has announced she will be showcasing both her religion and her Palestinian roots when she is sworn in on January 3.
Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian American who was unchallenged in her bid to represent Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, posted a photo on Instagram of the gown or “thobe” that she will wear.
“Sneak peek: This is what I am wearing when I am sworn into Congress,” Tlaib wrote, using the hashtags #PalestinianThobe and #ForMyYama.
“Yama” is an Arabic term for mother.
“A thobe or thawb is a traditional gown worn in Arab countries in the Middle East and in some African countries,” the Huffington Post reported. “A Palestinian thobe is known for its embroidered patterns and has its own unique style depending on where the person wearing it hails from.”
Tlaib’s post prompted other Muslim women to share photos of themselves wearing the traditional garb and using the hashtags #TweetYourThrobe or #TweetYourThoub.
“It’s official — we’re doing this! Post a pic in your thobe (embroidered scarf, shawl, whatever you got) on FB/Insta/Twitter bw Jan 3rd-5th to 1) celebrate Pal women’s art and 2) congratulate Rashida Tlaib,” Susan Muaddi Darraj, an English professor tweeted, using the hashtags #tweetyourthobe #tweetyourthoub #palestinianamerican #RashidaTlaib
Aljazeera described Tlaib’s Palestinian immigrant parents, who settled in Detroit, as coming from the “occupied” West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Aljazeera reported:
[Tlaib’s] campaign platform included pledges to secure a $15 minimum wage, preventing cuts to welfare programs such as Medicare and Social Security, as well as stopping tax relief to large corporations.
Earlier this month Tlaib told The Intercept that she plans to lead a congressional delegation to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, breaking from traditional trips to Israel for newly elected members taking place for decades, sponsored by the pro-Israel lobby group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
She said she hopes to offer her fellow freshmen members of Congress an alternative introduction to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Ilhan Omar from Minnesota’s 5th District is the other Muslim women elected to Congress in the 2018 midterm elections, replacing Democrat Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, who left his seat to run for state attorney general, a post he won.
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