Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., is accusing President Biden of ‘complicity’ in the deaths of children in the Middle East.
The progressive House ‘Squad’ member has leveled a barrage of criticism against the leader of her party over his response to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, even as she fields criticism from fellow Democrats over her own reaction to the crisis.
‘You see this right?’ Tlaib wrote to Biden on her Instagram Story on Sunday afternoon. She had shared a report from an outlet known as TCD News claiming that an Israeli airstrike had killed three children in South Lebanon.
‘Your silence is deafening. Your complicity is even worse,’ Tlaib wrote. ‘A whole generation of children is being wiped out in front of us.’
Hamas militants infiltrated Israel’s borders on Oct. 7, slaughtering 1,400 people – mainly civilians, including children and the elderly. Hundreds of Israelis were taken hostage and many remain so.
Tel Aviv responded to the surprise attack by blanketing Gaza with rocket fire, killing more than 8,500 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American in Congress, has been among a group of progressives calling for a ceasefire and urging the White House to press for one – calls the Biden administration have so far resisted. The administration has instead called for humanitarian pauses in order to get aid to Palestinian civilians as well as pull Israeli hostages out of Gaza.
Tlaib posted a video on X on Friday night that said, ‘Joe Biden supported the genocide of the Palestinian people.’
‘Mr. President the American people are not with you on this one,’ Tlaib said herself in the video. ‘We will remember in 2024.’
However, that video landed Tlaib in hot water. Fellow Democrats criticized her for including – and subsequently defending – the use of the phrase ‘From the river to the sea,’ which critics say implies the destruction of Israel. The phrase has also been taken on by Hamas as a rallying cry.
‘This phrase means eradicating Israel and Jews. Period. Dressing it up in a new PR ploy won’t change that,’ Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., wrote on X. ‘Only a return of hostages, eliminating Hamas and liberating Gaza from oppressive terror will save civilian lives and secure the peace, justice and dignity you seek.’
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel wrote to Tlaib on the platform on Saturday, ‘I have supported and defended you countless times, even when you have said the indefensible, because I believed you to be a good person whose heart was in the right place. But this is so hurtful to so many. Please retract this cruel and hateful remark.’
The White House pushed back against Tlaib’s criticism on Sunday. Deputy national security adviser Jon Finer told ABC News’ ‘This Week’ that Biden officials ‘strongly disagree with…some of the terms used to describe this conflict.’
‘What I will say is, we know that this is a conflict about which there are strong views on all sides, including in the United States – including frankly, even within the United States,’ he added.