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Rashida Tlaib Spoke at Event Tied to Terrorists. Will Anything Happen?

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  May 31, 2024 10:30 AM

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) has been really doubling down on anti-Israel, pro-terrorist sentiments. Last Saturday, the Squad member proudly spoke at the "People's Conference for Palestine," with a beaming smile on her face as she was met with loud reaction from the raucous crowd. 

Some of the more memorable moments of Tlaib's speech involved smearing not just Israel, but also President Joe Biden for what support he's dared to show our ally in the Middle East after the October 7 attack that Hamas perpetrated. The congresswoman also expressed support for pro-Hamas students on college campuses.

"I don't need to you that you're on the right side," she told the crowd. "I don't need to. But I'll be damned if I wait 10 years before they apologize to all of you for doing what was right at this moment," she said to a group of people hearing from terrorist sympathizers.

She also lamented how "each year our country... sends billions of dollars to maintain an apartheid government and support the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians," using a common smear against Israel. With her voice rising, Tlaib called it "disgraceful that the Biden administration and my colleague in Congress continue to smear them for protesting to save lives, no matter faith or ethnicity" going on to call it "cowardly."

Tlaib also warned "we're not going to forget in November, are we," to applause from the audience. Although Biden won the Michigan Democratic Primary in late February, there were still 101,000 voters who selected "uncommitted" because Biden was supposedly too supportive of Israel. Tlaib was in support of such a movement. 

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The congresswoman also criticized Biden for not agreeing with her that the operation on Rafah is "a genocide," to loud boos from the audience. "Where's your red line, President Biden? You owe every single bullet, every single gun, every single weapon, bombs that we send, as a sacrifice to our own schools here at home," she lamented. 

Tlaib also had strong words for those who take issue with the so-called "authority" of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, nd Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. She not only accused Israel of committing "crimes against humanity," but also called Netanyahu a "genocidal maniac" and screamed "you are an enabler, President Biden!"

The Squad member also took issue with her colleagues being rightfully "outraged" at the pro-Hamas agitators on college campuses who sympathize with terrorists, to a loud reaction from the crowd. "They're more outraged [over] that than" what she claimed were "war crimes."

The event had support from as well as featured members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) as speakers, with some other noteworthy organizations listed as endorsing the conference, such as American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), CODEPINK, and many Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) affiliations, which falls under AMP. Such groups have expressed pro-Hamas, anti-Israel sentiments. 

Jewish Insider highlighted more about information about the group's funder, Neville Roy Singham, who is married to the co-founder of CODE PINK:

The conference was organized by The People’s Forum, a far-left advocacy group funded largely by Neville Roy Singham, a businessman with ties to the Chinese Communist Party and a long history of donating to Marxist and socialist causes. 

Wisam Rafeedie, an activist with ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which is designated in the U.S. as a terrorist organization, was a guest at the event. Sana’ Daqqah, the widow of Walid Daqqah, the PFLP terrorist who was lionized in the Palestinian community for dying in an Israeli prison, was the keynote speaker. 

Attendees took part in chants of “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,”, and “We want justice, you say how? End the siege on Gaza now,” in between speeches and discussions on “Confronting Zionism in Higher Education” and “Zionism and U.S. Imperialism.”

A lot of feminist, pro-abortion and "queer" groups are also listed as endorsing the conference, which is quite ironic, given how Gaza isn't exactly known for supporting rights for women and those in the LGBTQ+ community. One of the speakers even has her pronouns listed in her speaker bio. Israel is far more permissive with its abortion laws, as well as LGBTQ+ rights. 

The keynote speaker for the conference was Sana’ Daqqa, who is described as "an activist, journalist, and the wife of the martyred Palestinian prisoner Walid Daqqa." What the conference website doesn't tell you is that Daqqa died early last month from cancer and was convicted for his part in ordering the kidnapping and then murder of 19-year-old Israeli soldier Moshe Tamam in 1984. The young man was tortured, including through castration and mutilation, before being shot dead. Amnesty International mourned and commemorated Daqqa's death at the time last month in a similarly despicable manner.

As the Jerusalem Post reported earlier on Thursday, Amnesty International had a booth at the conference, and Sana' Daqqa also praised the PFLP and Amnesty:

The event featured Wisam Rafeedie, who was noted in previous Amnesty reports as an activist for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – an organization listed by the US State Department as a foreign terrorist organization.

...

Conference keynote speaker Sana’ Daqqah, wife of PFLP terrorist Walid Daqqah, spoke on Sunday in a hall named for the deceased terrorist. Daqqah died of bone marrow cancer in an Israeli prison on April 8. He was originally imprisoned for commanding the PFLP cell that abducted, tortured, and murdered Israeli soldier Moshe Tamam in 1984.

...

The conference panel repeatedly referenced, praised, and quoted Daqqah and other terrorists, including Bassel al-Araj, Ibrahim al-Nabulsi, Udai Tamimi, former PFLP spokesperson Ghassan Kanafani, and convicted murderer Assata Shakur of the Black Liberation Army.

The event was endorsed by leading PFLP member Salah Salah in a May 20 Palestinian Youth Movement Instagram video.

The outrage was swift, severe, and involved calls for action. 

Members of Congress also weighed in, including Reps. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Mike Lawler (R-NY), with the latter tagging the congresswoman and calling for action.

That same report from Jewish Insider also mentions that Sen. Gary Peters, a fellow Democrat from Michigan, has distanced himself from Tlaib and the event:

Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) distanced himself from Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s (D-MI) appearance at the People’s Conference for Palestine, where pro-terror messages were celebrated and an activist with ties to a group designated by the U.S. as a foreign terrorist organization was welcomed. 

Peters’ office told Jewish Insider in a statement on Wednesday that Michigan’s soon-to-be senior senator “understands how personal the issues around the war between Israel and Hamas are for Michiganders and believes that individuals have the right to gather and advocate for their personal beliefs. However, he believes that there is no place for violent rhetoric or advocacy of violence in these discussions.”

“As Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Senator Peters is also concerned that foreign adversaries, like the Chinese and Russian governments, have and will continue to try to exploit divisions within U.S. domestic politics to sow chaos, something our nation’s intelligence officials have warned about. He urges Michiganders to be attentive to such potential interventions by foreign actors and organizations,” the statement concluded. 

Tlaib went on to similarly blast Biden on Memorial Day, while also failing to post any sentiments about the actual date being commemorated. 

The congresswoman was censured by the House in early November of last year for her falsehoods against Israel and her support for genocidal phrases. A resolution was also filed earlier this month against fellow Squad member, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) by Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) after she visited Columbia University and referred to Jewish students as being "pro-genocide."

Congress is currently in a recess. We'll stay tuned as to any of Tlaib's House colleagues--Lawler or otherwise--actually bring forward a resolution to hold her accountable in some way.