The House voted on Tuesday to censure Democratic House Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, the only Palestinian American in Congress.
House members voted 234-188 to censure Tlaib, a punishment level below expulsion from the House. The three-term congresswoman has long been criticised for her views on the Middle East conflict.
Republican House member Rich McCormick of the state of Georgia offered to censure Tlaib in response to what he called the promotion of anti-Semitic rhetoric, stating that his counterpart “levied unbelievable falsehoods about our greatest ally, Israel, and the attack on October 7.”
Along with other Democrats backing her, Tlaib defended her views, claiming that she “will not be silenced and I will not let you distort my words.” She added that her criticism of Israel has always been directed against its government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Tlaib’s West Bank relatives have been heavily criticised after she failed to immediately condemn Hamas after the attack.
“It is important to separate people and government. The idea that criticising the government of Israel is antisemitic sets a very dangerous precedent. And it’s been used to silence diverse voices speaking up for human rights across our nation.”
Initially, all Democrats supported her and helped defeat the first censure resolution against her last week. However, many of her colleagues, including prominent Jewish figures, have become more controversial over her views on the Middle East war, especially after her slogan, which many believe called for the eradication of Israel. More than 20 of them joined Republicans on Tuesday night to censure her.
House member Brad Schneider, an Illinois Democrat, was the only Democrat to vote with Republicans on Tuesday to advance the censure resolution. He spoke of the importance 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. I will always defend the right to free speech. Tlaib has the right to say whatever she wants.
The censure of a lawmaker has no practical effect, merely a stern rebuke from his colleagues, however, the resolution against Tlaib does not provide for public censure.
With this vote, Tlaib will become the second Muslim American woman in Congress to be officially censured for criticising the Jewish state this year. House member Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, was removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee in February for similar comments she made about Israel.
Censure has long been seen as an extreme punishment just one step below expulsion and used only for the most blatant offences. But censure resolutions are swiftly becoming commonplace in the House, often expressed in explicitly partisan terms.
“This resolution not only degrades our Constitution, but it cheapens the meaning of discipline in this body for people who actually commit wrongful actions like bribery, fraud, violent assault and so on.”
Tlaib became the 26th person the chamber has ever censured, and the second just this year. In June, Republicans voted to censure Democrat Adam Schiff of California for comments he made several years ago about investigations into then-President Donald Trump’s ties to Russia.
