The GOP-led House of Representatives voted on Tuesday night to censure squad member Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) over anti-Israel comments she made.
The vote to censure Tlaib tallied 234 – 188. Only 22 Democrats joined with 212 Republicans, while only four Republicans voted against the measure, with another four voting present.
Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA), who introduced the measure, said that Tlaib’s comments were worthy of censure because she essentially called for the annihilation of Israel by sharing a video on X that included the phrase “from the river to the sea.”
“If this is not worthy of censure, what is? When you can call for the annihilation of a country and its people, if that’s not worthy of a censure, what is?” McCormick said on the House floor.
Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA) talks with reporters on September 27, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Tlaib claimed that “from the river to the sea” never meant the destruction of Israel.
“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,” she said.
Democrats and Jews rejected the claim.
“It is fundamentally a call for a Palestinian state extending from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, territory that includes the State of Israel, which would mean the dismantling of the Jewish state,” the Anti-Defamation League’s website said. “It is an antisemitic charge denying the Jewish right to self-determination, including through the removal of Jews from their ancestral homeland.”
Tlaib remained defiant on Tuesday when she addressed the House floor.
“It is important to separate people and governments,” she said. “The idea that criticizing the Israeli government is antisemitic sets a dangerous precedent.”
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