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Rashida Tlaib Slammed for Response to Death of Synagogue President in Detroit

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  October 22, 2023 6:00 PM

Tragedy struck in Detroit over the weekend, when 40-year-old Samantha Woll was found dead after a fatal stabbing outside of her home. She had been the president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue since 2022 and had formerly served as an aide to Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), and was a campaign staffer for Attorney General Dana Nessel (D), according to the Detroit Free Press. She had been identified in a statement by Mayor Mike Duggan, the Associated Press mentioned. Woll was also known for having founded the Muslim-Jewish Forum of Detroit. The synagogue is in the 13th Congressional District, not far from Rep. Rashida Tlaib's (D-MI) 12th Congressional District, who represented the 13th until the maps were redrawn due to redistricting.

The headline from the Associated Press noted that "Police don’t have a motive," a point stressed throughout the article, as was also mentioned by the Detroit Free Press and plenty of other news coverage. The Al Jazeera headline was even more direct in pointing out that "US synagogue head killed as police warn against speculation over motive." 

It's worth reminding that as Guy highlighted last week, "the Israeli government calls Al Jazeera a "propaganda mouthpiece," while others accuse the network of both aiding terrorism and doing the bidding of Qatar's intelligence service (update: A report last year shone a spotlight on the problematic relationship between Northwestern and anti-Israel 'journalistic' training at the Qatar campus)."

Further, as our friends at Twitchy pointed out, Al Jazeera was fact-checked for questioning the confirmed narrative that Israel was not actually responsible for the explosion at a hospital in Gaza. Rather, that was a misfired Jihad rocket. The death count was also greatly exaggerated.

Users over X nevertheless expressed it was tough not to speculate.

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Other posts pointed out that there was not so much of a call to avoid rushing to judgment over other alleged hate crimes committed. Earlier this month, a 6-year-old Palestinian Muslim boy was fatally stabbed in Illinois, while his mother was stabbed. Tlaib has posted multiple times about the tragedy.

Not only has Tlaib pushed the falsehood that Israel was responsible for the explosion at the hospital, her outrage could not be more selective. As of Sunday afternoon, she has not yet posted from either of her X accounts about Woll's death.

The Detroit Free Press highlighted a post from the congresswoman's personal page, though there's nothing on her other Facebook pages, Instagram, or either of her X accounts. This is despite Tlaib's Facebook referring to her as a "friend."

Newsweek highlighted outrage over Tlaib's reaction--or lack thereof--on Saturday night, pointing out "Rashida Tlaib Under Fire After Detroit Synagogue Leader's Slaying."

Other Squad members, however, have posted about Woll's death from their X accounts, including Reps. Cori Bush (D-MO), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA).

Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI), who now represents the district where the synagogue was, has posted multiple times from both his official and campaign accounts.