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Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib
Detroit Rep. Rashida Tlaib came to the defense of Minneapolis Rep. Ilhan Omar ahead of a Thursday vote on an "anti-hate" resolution viewed as an implicit rebuke of Omar's recent comments on the pro-Israel lobby's influence on American politics.
Before the vote, which passed with all Democrats in support, including Omar, Tlaib took to Twitter to say she was "so honored" to serve with "an incredible courageous woman."
"Every time I worry about [Omar] and the ugly attacks, I remember what she said to me two months ago: 'I survived war, I can survive this," Tlaib wrote.
The comments came in the tense days leading up to the vote. Democrats were bitterly divided over the resolution, put forth by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after Omar suggested Israel demands "allegiance" from American lawmakers. Critics said the comment played on the anti-Semitic trope of "dual loyalty" among American Jews, while Omar's supporters felt it was a valid critique of a government that receives large sums from the pro-Israel lobby and backs the country despite its poor treatment of Palestinians.
Omar is Muslim and a Somali refugee. Tlaib is Muslim and Palestinian-American.
Tlaib also clapped back on Republican Rep. Steve Scalise for demanding that Omar be removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, tweeting that it was hard not to wonder if the request was "steeped in Islamophobia." Scalise has previously admitted to speaking at a conference of white supremacists in 2002.
On Wednesday, Tlaib explained her support for Omar to The Detroit News:
“I know that the Congresswoman Ilhan Omar really tries to push back against oppression,” said Tlaib.
“And as a Palestinian, I can tell you, when she speaks about those issues, what I hear is her trying to uplift my grandmother in Palestine, in the West Bank, and saying that there are real, actual factual evidence to show that there's human rights violations.”
Tlaib and some of her progressive House colleagues had pressed for the broader language in the House Democratic resolution that initially addressed anti-Semitism only. Tlaib said she submitted language for inclusion that specifically addressed anti-Muslim bias.
“We want it to be much broader because we think that hate and racism in our country is growing, no matter if you're Jewish, LGBTQ, Latino, immigrant, Muslim,” Tlaib said.
“I think we need to talk about white supremacy in our country very much more directly than that resolution did in the first place, and I think we've been heard.”
Ultimately, the draft resolution was changed to condemn not just anti-Semitism, but hatred in all forms, and it received overwhelming approval. In a strange twist, it was some Republicans who wound up voting no.
