Nov. 1 (UPI) — House Republicans voted with Democrats on Wednesday to block a resolution that would have censured Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan for harsh statements against Israel in the wake of last month’s deadly Hamas attacks.
The resolution, which was introduced by GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, was tabled in a procedural motion vote of 222 to 186, as 23 Republicans joined Democrats to keep the disciplinary resolution from reaching the House floor.
Greene’s censure resolution accused Tlaib, who is the first Palestinian American woman to serve in Congress, of “leading an insurrection” in an anti-war protest last month at the Capitol, which ended in hundreds of arrests.
Pro-Israel Democrats called Greene’s description of the peace protest and Tlaib’s role in it “inaccurate.” The protest, on Oct. 18 in the rotunda of the Cannon House office building, was organized by the groups Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow who were calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
“Thank you to our Jewish allies from across the country who joined in solidarity to call for a ceasefire now. Chanting ‘not in our name,'” Tlaib wrote last month in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Thank you to our Jewish allies from across the country who joined in solidarity to call for a #CeasefireNOW.
Chanting “Not in Our Name.” https://t.co/IXcOfmhDM0— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) October 18, 2023
Greene accused Tlaib and the protesters of “antisemitic activity, sympathizing with terrorist organizations and leading an insurrection at the United States Capitol Complex,” according to remarks on the House floor last week.
While more than 300 people were arrested for illegally protesting at the event, as demonstrations are not allowed inside congressional office buildings, some lawmakers questioned Greene’s “insurrectionist” wording and its comparison to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol following former President Donald Trump’s election loss.
Since the deadly Hamas attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, and the start of the Israel-Hamas war, Tlaib has condemned violence on all sides while accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians. Greene’s censure resolution listed Tlaib’s statement on Oct. 8.
“The failure to recognize the violent reality of living under siege, occupation, and apartheid makes no one safer. No person, no child anywhere should have to suffer or live in fear of violence,” Tlaib said, one day after Hamas’s attacks. “We cannot ignore the humanity in each other. As long as our country provides billions in unconditional funding to support the apartheid government, this heartbreaking cycle of violence will continue.”
On Wednesday night, Greene blasted the House vote in a post on X and included a list of the “feckless Republicans that voted WITH Democrats to table my censure resolution against Rashida Tlaib,” Green wrote. “This is why Republicans NEVER do anything to stop the communist Democrats or ever hold anyone accountable!”
