US House nears vote on censuring Rashida Tlaib for advocating ‘from the river to the sea’

WASHINGTON — The US House of Representatives is nearing a showdown vote on whether to punish Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan — the only Palestinian American in Congress — for her rhetoric about the Israel-Hamas war.

The outcome of the vote will likely depend on whether Democrats unite with a handful of their GOP colleagues in defending Tlaib, who has long been a target of criticism for her views on the decades-long conflict in the Middle East.

That criticism reached new heights after the October 7 attack by the terrorist group Hamas, in which some 1,400 Israelis — mostly civilians — were killed and 240 taken as hostages into Gaza. Tlaib, who has family in the West Bank, came under heavy reproval after she failed to immediately condemn Hamas after the attack.

Democrats stood by Tlaib and helped defeat an initial censure resolution against her last week. But since then, many of her colleagues, including prominent Jewish members, have become more conflicted about her rhetoric about the war, especially because of a slogan she has used frequently that is widely seen as calling for the eradication of Israel.

Representative Brad Schneider of Illinois, the lone Democrat to vote with Republicans to advance the censure resolution, says he believed it’s important to debate the slogan “from the river to the sea.”

“It is nothing else but the call for the destruction of Israel and murder of Jews,” the Jewish Democrat says. “I will always defend the right to free speech. Tlaib has the right to say whatever she wants.”

He adds, “But it cannot go unanswered.” It’s unclear if Schneider will support the resolution on final passage.

While the censure of a lawmaker carries no practical effect, it amounts to a severe reproach from colleagues, as lawmakers who are censured are asked to stand in the well of the House as the censure resolution against them is read aloud.