Controversial Congresswoman Speaks Against Violence Towards Palestinian-Americans
Tlaib condemns hate crimes on House floor
Wearing her traditional keffiyeh, the only Palestinian-American serving in Congress rose up on the House floor to condemn violence against other Palestinian-Americans since the October 7 Hamas attacks against Israel.
Rep Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich) denounced attacks such as the three, 20-year-old men who were shot over Thanksgiving weekend while out together in Burlington, Vt. A suspect was arrested the following day, with Burlington police stating the shooting was being investigated as a possible hate crime.
Tlaib, recently censured by her colleagues in a backlash over rhetoric she used in response to the Israel-Hamas war, also called out the murder of a 6-year-old boy in Illinois who was stabbed dozens of times.
“Hisham, Kinnan, Tahseen are all Palestinian college students who were shot while wearing a keffiyeh and speaking Arabic on their way back to a family dinner in Vermont,” Tlaib said. “Just weeks ago, a six-year-old Palestinian-American child, Wadea, was stabbed 26 times in a hate crime in Illinois. They had to take the knife out of his body.”
This violence against Palestinian-Americans apparently is motivated in retaliation for the October 7 Hamas attacks, which killed about 1,200 Israelis.
“The constant dehumanization of Palestinians have real consequences, Mr. Chair, and it’s fueling anti-Palestinian racism and violence,” Tlaib added. “The dehumanization and the rhetoric repeated by many elected officials, many in this chamber, is inciting violence against Palestinians.”
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