Of all the wrong responses to the current Middle East crisis, demanding that the only Palestinian American in Congress be convicted for criticizing Israel is one of the most cynical.

Inevitably, the war between Israel and Hamas has exposed deep fissures among Democrats between outspoken supporters of Israel and its moves to crush Hamas, and those who call for

a ceasefire in Gaza and

at the end of Israel

occupation of the West Bank and its

trampling on Palestinian rights.

But Republican efforts to oust or censure Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib for her outspoken pro-Palestinian positions are nothing more than a cynical attempt to steal the spotlight and exploit Democratic divisions for political purposes .

Yes, it is true that Tlaib has used the word “genocide” to describe what is happening in Gaza. She was one of nine Democrats who voted against a House resolution expressing support for Israel and condemning the October 1 Hamas attack. 7. She, like many others, also believed in the story that Israel had bombed a hospital in Gaza, which is now widely disputed. But so did many mainstream media. Should she have apologized? Maybe, but her defense made sense.

Both the Israeli and US governments have a long, documented history of misleading the public about wars and war crimes, such as last year’s Israeli military assassination. [journalist] Shireen Abu Akleh and the false claims about weapons of mass destruction that led our country into the Iraq war, she said

. , adding:

This debate should not distract us from the urgent need for a ceasefire to save innocent civilian lives.

On Oct.

18

Tlaib spoke on an anti

–

was a protest organized by two left-wing Jewish groups, Jewish Voice for Peace and

If not now

. Standing in front of a large banner painted with the word

c

An emotional Tlaib easily advocated peace and condemned the war. She spoke of two victims: Maya Regev, a 21-year-old Israeli who was reportedly taken hostage by Hamas at the music festival, and Al-Shaima Akram Saidam, the top scorer in the 2023 Palestinian high school exams, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike on a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.

Both

both

his victims, Tlaib said, his voice breaking. They are victims of the suppression of violence. They both deserve to live. I don’t care what their religion is or their ethnicity.

Later that day, just over 300 protesters were arrested after entering a congressional office on Capitol Hill to continue their demonstration against the war. Three were charged with assaulting police, although this was by no means a violent event. Video shows most of the protesters wearing black T-shirts with the slogan Not in our name

,

sitting in concentric circles or standing with arms linked

,

singing: Armistice now!

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who supported overturning the results of a free and fair U.S. presidential election, accused Tlaib of engaging in anti-American activities. On Oct. 30 letters Urging her Republican colleagues to censure Tlaib, Greene wrote. She has advocated pro-Hamas riots across the country, putting American Jews in fear for their lives, and signaled to Israel that America does not support them in their fight against evil.

Tlaib, as far as I know, unfortunately

not

has singled out Hamas for criticism. Instead, she condemned the violence and called for a ceasefire

–

firework. But no one, least of all a Palestinian-American elected representative with deeply held views on Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, should be punished for not falling in line with the establishment’s vision.

One of Greene’s colleagues, ethics-challenged Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke of Montana, was snarky about the pro-Palestinian Capitol rally, but at least give him credit for rejecting the First Amendment: The irony is that the U.S. constitution protects the freedom of these demonstrators. absolute idiots, he posted on X.

Green, on the other hand

,

seems to have lost touch with reality, not for the first time. In her letter to colleagues, she claimed that Tlaib

had

incited a pro-Hamas uprising in the Capitol complex and

had

called for a violent terrorist insurrection within the Capitol complex.

We expect our elected officials to conduct themselves in a manner that reflects the dignity of their office and sustains the trust of the American people, wrote Greene, who once called her colleague Lauren Boebert a little bitch on the House floor and the survivor of the Parkland shooting verbally harassed David Hogg posted an anti-transgender sign outside her office across the hall, where a lawmaker stood with a transgender child, and shouted Liar! at President Biden during his State of the Union address this year.

Let’s also not forget her embrace of the anti-Semitic Great Replacement theory, or her crazy claim that rich Jews are using space lasers to start forest fires in the US and Israel.

The extent to which some people only pretend to care about anti-Semitism when they can weaponize it continues to amaze, CNN’s Jake Tapper said Sunday during a searing commentary on Greene’s censorship resolution.

For her part, Tlaib called Greene’s resolution unhinged and deeply Islamophobic.

“I am proud to stand in solidarity with Jewish peace activists who are calling for a ceasefire and an end to violence,” Tlaib wrote in a statement from her office. I will not be bullied, I will not be dehumanized, and I will not be silenced.

Our Republican-led House of Representatives, awash in chaos and dysfunction of its own making, has far better and more important things to do than punish Tlaib for speaking her mind, especially if she is motivated by long-standing principles, and they are. motivated by political theater.

@robinkabcarian