 I can't believe I have to say this, but Palestinian people are not disposable. We are human beings, just like anyone else. My city, my grandmother, like all Palestinians, just wants to live her life with freedom and human dignity we all deserve. Speaking up to save lives, Mr. Chair, no matter faith, no matter ethnicity, should not be controversial in this chamber. The cries of the Palestinian and Palestinian and Israeli children sound no different to me. Why? What? I don't understand. Is why the cries of Palestinians sound different to you all? You just listened to a portion of Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib's speech during a debate on whether or not the House should move forward with a motion to censure her. Now, that motion advanced in a 208 to 213 vote and at the time that I record this video I don't know the outcome of the final vote, but who knows which way it's going to go. Either way, this effort is nefarious and disingenuous and that's what I want to talk about. Now, on top of that vote and that debate, Marjorie Green has reintroduced her resolution to censure Tlaib after it failed the first time last week. Now, this entire effort, it is comprised of lies, hypocrisy, bigotry, and cowardice and this is a coordinated attempt to condemn the only elected Palestinian American woman in Congress. And we're going to get to why I say that. I think it's going to be evident towards the end of this video, but first, I do want to show you more of her speech because what she says here is critically important. Trying to bully or censor me won't work because this movement for a ceasefire is much bigger than one person. It's growing every single day. There are millions of people across our country who oppose Netanyahu's extremism and are done watching our government support collective punishment and the use of white phosphorus bombs that melt flesh to the bone. They are done watching our government, Mr. Chair, supporting cutting off food, water, electricity, and medical care to millions of people with nowhere to go. Like me, Mr. Chair, they don't believe the answer to war crimes is more war crimes. The refusal of Congress and the administration to acknowledge Palestinian lives is chipping at way at my soul. Over 10,000 Palestinians have been killed. Majority. Majority were children. But let me be clear. My criticism has always been of the Israeli government and Netanyahu's actions. It is important to separate people and governments, Mr. Chair. No government is beyond criticism. The idea that criticizing the government of Israel is anti-Semitic sense of very dangerous precedent, and it's being used to silence diverse voices speaking up for human rights across our nation. Do you realize what it's like, Mr. Chair, for the people outside the chamber right now listening in agony to their own government dehumanizing them? To hear the President of the United States, we helped elect dispute death tolls as we see video after video of dead children and parents under rubble. 71% of Michigan Democrats support a ceasefire. So you can try to censure me. But you can't silence their voices. I urge my colleagues to join with the majority of Americans in support of ceasefire now to save as many lives as possible. President Biden must listen to and represent all of us, not just some of us. I urge the president to have the courage to call for a ceasefire in the end of killings. That right there is what speaking truths of power looks like. And currently, it's a really lonely place, unfortunately. The people behind Rashida Tlaib there, they were showing solidarity and support. And I really am thankful that she has some people by her side at least. But for the most part, most people in Congress are against her, including Democrats. But despite that, future historians are going to look back at this moment and they're probably going to be shocked by the treatment of Congress's lone Palestinian-American voice. But we're going to listen to some of the reasons why Republican Congressman Rich McCormick believes that Tlaib should be censured. But what he says here is important because he is the individual who sponsored this resolution, but nonetheless, I'll let him explain why he supports this. Whereas Representative Rashida Tlaib, within 24 hours of the October 7 barbaric attack on Jewish citizens of the state of Israel, representing the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, defended the brutal rapes, murders, beheadings and kidnappings, including of Americans by Hamas as justified resistance to the quote, apartheid state, end quote. Whereas on October 18, 2023, Representative Tlaib continued to knowingly spread the false narrative that Israel intentionally bombed the Al-Ali Arab Hospital on October 17 after United States intelligence, Israeli intelligence, and President Biden assessed with high confidence that Israel did not cause the explosion. Whereas on November 3, 2023, Representative Tlaib published on social media a video containing the phrase quote, from the river to the sea, end quote, which is widely recognized as a genocidal call to violence, to destroy the state of Israel, and as people to replace it with a Palestinian state extending from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. Now, if you didn't know any better, you would think that Rashida Tlaib was a terrible person based on his assessment of her comments. But the problem is he is lying. So let's get back to her original statement where he accuses her of defending Hamas's rapes and murders and kidnappings. First and foremost, she expressed remorse for the lives lost that day but explained that the apartheid conditions perpetuated by the Israeli government is what's fueling radicalism that endangers both Israelis and Palestinians. And she says quote, the path to that future of peace must include lifting the blockade, ending the occupation, and dismantling the apartheid system that creates the suffocating dehumanizing conditions that can lead to resistance. Understanding why something happens is not the same thing as justifying it. Rich McCormick knows this, but he chose to pretend as if Tlaib is literally defending rape and murder as justified resistance. Now, you can accuse her of being unclear with her words. You can say that that statement should have been worded better. But saying that she justified Hamas's brutality is downright slander. It's a smear and he knows it. Now, he also says that she knowingly spread false information about the hospital bombing. Now, perhaps she also maybe should have waited a little bit longer before commenting on that. You can make that case. But weeks later, we still don't really know. Sure, US intelligence says one thing, but the independent analyses that we've seen from the New York Times, Channel 4 and Al Jazeera say that it's likely the bomb came from Israel. Now, for me, I tend to agree more with journalists than our intelligence agencies, considering that they also told us that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. But again, we don't know. I don't know. He doesn't know. But what we do know is that since that bombing took place, regardless of who did it, Israel has bombed ambulances. They've bombed refugee camps. They've bombed the cancer ward of a pediatric hospital. They've used white phosphorus. They've slaughtered the families of journalists. They've dropped lots of bombs since then. And your silence about those bombings says quite a bit, does it not? But when it comes to the use of, from the river to the sea, which he also condemns, it is true that the phrase has been used by Hamas. And the way that they use it is genocidal, which makes it seem tainted to the rest of us. But Palestinians still use the phrase despite Hamas's co-optation and contrary to popular belief, when Palestinians who are not Hamas, which is the overwhelming majority of them use that phrase, they are not calling for genocide. Palestinian historian, Mahan Asar, has an in-depth write-up about this in forward, which is a Jewish publication, by the way. And she explains that the phrase became popular in the 1960s long before the existence of Hamas as an effective call for a single secular state with equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians. And today, there are still calls for a one-state solution, which is why the phrase is still used. And people who call for a one-state solution are doing so because the possibility of a two-state solution seems impossible at this point. In fact, Avi Shlain, a British-Israeli historian, explains why a two-state solution is dead. And you'll notice that as he advocates for a one-state solution, he invokes from the river to the sea. And you're going to see why he uses that term. I used to support a two-state solution, but Israel has killed the two-state solution with the settlements. It's a struggle now between right-wing ethno-nationalism and liberal ethno-nationalism. And I don't approve of either. An essential element of democracy is equal rights. Today, I support one democratic state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea with equal rights for all its citizens regardless of religion and ethnicity. The experience that my family and I had of living together coexisting with Arabs gives me reason for hope that what happened once in the Middle East can happen again. So when he invokes from the river to the sea, he is not talking about genocide. He's talking about peaceful coexistence. That is the context within which Rashida Tlaib is also using it. And it's not like we have to speculate about that because she explained the context within which she uses this phrase. Quote, from the river to the sea is an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction, or hate. My work and advocacy is always centered in justice and dignity for all people no matter faith or ethnicity. Now, you can argue that she still shouldn't use it because Hamas uses it. Therefore, it's bad. Or it's going to have a different meaning now since Hamas has been using it. But I can't fault oppressed people who refuse to let language they use to advocate for themselves be coopted. And on top of that, the context matters. So even if you think that she shouldn't use that phrase, you don't get to pretend as if she is using it in a way that is indistinguishable from Hamas, but that's what McCormick is doing. He's saying that her use of from the river to the sea is indistinguishable from Hamas. It's a lie, but it hasn't stopped Republicans from repeating it. For example, Marsha Blackburn took to Twitter to accuse Rashida Tlaib of supporting a genocide as well. But it's a slanderous lie, and they know it's a lie. This isn't about Rashida Tlaib supporting violence and genocide because they know that she doesn't. She's more peaceful than all of them. What this is about is Rashida Tlaib daring to challenge the status quo that they don't want to be challenged. They wanna maintain the status quo and her challenging it is a threat. That's why they're trying to demonize her. That's why they're trying to silence her. And spineless Democrats who are too afraid to challenge power are joining Republicans in this witch hunt against the only Palestinian American in Congress as well. Take Democrat Jared Moskowitz, for example, who explains why he didn't support Green's censure resolution, but he will be supporting this one. It sounds like you're contemplating supporting a censure resolution against her. If there were one, I assume you voted against the one that Marjorie Taylor-Green brought up a censure having to do with an insurrection. And let's not, let's be- No, of course, it was not an insurrection. It was not an insurrection. And October 7th should not be conflated with any other date on the calendar. So, but if there were one that was more about what she said that I just read, that's something you would support. If a censure comes on her misinformation on the hospital bombing, which obviously we know was not true, that she continued to spread even after intelligence came out. It wasn't true. And on from the river to the sea, I would support that censure. If you're wondering why this Democrat is joining Republicans to censure one of his Democratic colleagues, well, all you have to do is follow the money. APAC, a racist insurrectionist Republican supporting organization, is his number one campaign contributor or was for the 2022 cycle. So I'm assuming that his refusal to call for a ceasefire and condemnation of his Palestinian colleague has something to do with that. But he's not alone because 70 Democrats have also condemned the phrase, including Richie Torres, Shantel Brown, Josh Gothheimer, Steny Hoyer, Katie Porter, Adam Schiff, Deena Titus, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, and others. And Democrats from her home state have also come out to loudly denounce her. For example, Michigan Senator President Jeremy Moss denounced her saying, Hamas uses the phrase as a rallying cry and they don't simply want to displace Jews in Israel, they want Jews dead. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel who bungled the case against criminals who poison Flint's water rights, I have supported and defended you countless times even when you have said that indefensible because I believed you to be a good person whose heart is in the right place, but this is so hurtful to so many. Please retract this cruel and hateful remark. Noah Arbide, state representative for West Bloomfield writes, it is disturbing and enraging that Jewish communities in Southfield, Franklin, Bingham Farms, Beverly Hills, and beyond are represented by someone who adopts wholesale the call for the state of Israel to be wiped from the map necessitating the elimination of eight million Jews. I mean, this is downright defamatory. She is calling for freedom from oppression, freedom from a genocide being conducted against Palestinians. And as everyone else turns away, they're saying actually, no, the person who is saying genocide is bad is actually the person who supports genocide. It is very Orwellian and despicable. So everyone is condemning her. Members of Congress, her own democratic colleagues, politicians in her state are speaking past her accusing her of genocide even though she has made it very clear she does not support that. She supports peace for both Israelis and Palestinians because she's a good person and a proponent of peace. It's not just this issue where she advocates for peace. Look at her record. But yet, she's the only politician in that state who actually is doing what they're supposed to do. She's representing her constituents. Most Americans support a ceasefire. Her constituents in Michigan support a ceasefire. And she was one of the first to call for a ceasefire while almost every other politician hid in a corner somewhere shitting themselves at the thought of daring to utter the word ceasefire. It's pathetic. And rather than condemning Israel's war crimes, these cowards are trying to turn to leave into public enemy number one in order to distract you from their support of an actual genocide. For example, Josh Gothheimer told CNN's Manu Raju that he will indeed be voting to censure Tlaib in the wake of her River to the Sea comment after he himself allegedly blamed all Muslims for Hamas's attack. So he reportedly interjected loudly in a democratic meeting and either said all Muslims are guilty or they all should feel guilty. Now, regardless of what he said, promoting this idea of collective responsibility, blaming an entire group of people, all Muslims for the acts of Hamas is rhetoric that is used to justify genocide. I mean, this is what the president of Israel said. You know, they are all guilty in Gaza because they didn't rise up to overthrow Hamas. So you have Josh Gothheimer saying that, being explicitly Islamophobic, but yet Democrats are feigning concern over Tlaib's words, having bothered to call out explicitly genocidal rhetoric from Republicans they're aligning with to condemn her or call out the Islamophobia of their colleagues like Josh Gothheimer and his gross generalization of all Muslims. But guess what? People are paying attention. We're seeing the cowardice and it's not gonna go unnoticed. In fact, this was pointed out on MSNBC as well. I would encourage the other side to not so lightly throw around the idea of innocent Palestinian civilians as is frequently said. I don't think we would so lightly throw around the term innocent Nazi civilians during World War II. Aiman, you and I have discussed outrageous statements made by Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Marjorie Taylor Green, Lauren Boeber on this show in this handover for years now. I cannot think of a more outrageous statement from a Republican politician than what I just had basically saying, civilians in Gaza have no protections, they could be targeted, they can be killed, it's open season. By saying they're not civilians, they're like Nazis. And I just think about how much time we have spent this week, Americans have spent looking at college campuses and protesters placards and what phrases are used. And yet this guy, I haven't had anyone denouncing him from the top of the Democratic Party. No, I mean, the comments, they're not only abhorrent, they reflect a deep ignorance from this congressman who we should also note showed up to Congress dressed in an Israeli military uniform in the early days of this war. But as you said, this is a reflection of where the Republican Party is in this country, where the discourse is in this country at the moment. And it's troubling and it's scary. It reflects an anti-Palestinian sentiment that's not just in words. I mean, you actually now have a member of the Republican Party, Representative Ryan Zinke who introduced this bill to basically ban Palestinians from this country to strip Palestinians who are in this country and have them deported. And it goes to show you the grotesque level of anti-Palestinian sentiment that now has plagued the Republican Party, not only in words, but in actions as well. So I am not surprised it is disgusting. It is shameful. And as you said, it goes unchecked and it goes without any condemnation from the highest levels of the Republican Party. And no condemnation from the highest level of the Democratic Party, which really upsets me. Yeah. They're too busy accusing Rashida Tlaib of genocide to notice the genocide that Israel is doing in Gaza or even notice the Republicans who are literally justifying the deaths of innocent Palestinian civilians. But I mean, it goes back to this general bigotry against Palestinians that is socially permissible in the US. And that explains why there's so much hate directed at the only Palestinian American. It's bigotry, it's Islamophobia and it's racism. And because she dares to challenge the status quo and defend her people, Republicans and Democrats are tripping over themselves to condemn her. They are the biggest fucking cowards on the planet and I have no respect for them. But thankfully, some Democrats are actually taking notice of all of the terrible things that Republicans are saying. Democrat Sarah Jacobs, for example, has moved to force a vote to censure Brian Mast for comments that are actually genocidal. And during the debate for this resolution, Ilhan Omar had some choice words for Mast. It is glaring hypocrisy when you have Republicans on the other side of the aisle trying to create definitions and say, Rashida wants to annihilate people when Max Miller himself went on TV and said, we're turning Gaza into a parking lot and we want to annihilate Palestinians. Nobody condemned him on that side of the aisle. What is true here is that every single one of them has not acknowledged the fact that Palestinians are dying in the tens of thousands. But we'll continue to say it is us who are not acknowledging humanity. Rashida will stand strong and the Republican movement will continue for liberation until every single Palestinian has the right to live in liberty. That was fantastic. It feels so gross to see lawmakers feign outrage over Rashida Tlaib's support for genocide while they turn a blind eye to an actual genocide that's happening in Gaza. I mean, it's despicable. But it can't possibly be a genocide if you don't view the victims of Israel's indiscriminate bombs as human beings that are equal to you. And as that number grows, we all risk growing more detached from all the suffering because larger numbers are so much more difficult to visualize. So when we hear 4,000 Palestinian children are dead, we know that that's bad and it still might elicit a visceral response but it's hard to imagine what that looks like. So I wanna bring it down to a smaller scale and look at a couple of examples that have haunted my mind for weeks. So this 12-year-old Gazan boy, Ani Eldus, was just a couple of years older than my nephew. He was a gaming YouTuber. He loved video games and his dream was to hit 100,000 subscribers on YouTube and the video clip to the right is him announcing that he hit 1,000 subscribers. He is never going to realize this dream because he was killed in an Israeli airstrike. He's not responsible for the atrocities committed by Hamas. He wasn't even alive when they came to power. He was just a kid and he wanted to be a gaming YouTuber but his life is now gone forever. Now, this last one is also incredibly heartbreaking. This is seven-year-old Mujahid who drew a picture for the people who were giving him chemotherapy for his cancer and him and his entire family were killed after Obama's dropped on his home. Just seven short years of life. We're talking about human beings. Their lives are precious. Like us, they feel pain. They have hopes and dreams. They want to live. And one of the few members of Congress who was advocating for their right to exist is being slandered by everyone who's too fucking afraid to tell Israel to stop because they don't know what that would mean for their political career or they don't know if that's gonna elicit some backlash. Who cares? How can you see the images that we're all seeing and remain silent? I mean, in this instance, silence is violence. If you're not speaking out against this, you are complicit. And that goes for everyone who refuses to call for a ceasefire. Bernie Sanders, my representative, Joe Biden, they're all cowards and they absolutely deserve to be condemned by us until they call for a ceasefire. I mean, when we look back at this moment years from now, I want you to ask yourself, which side do you want to have been on? The side who defended human dignity, Rashida Tlaib, who's saying, I want all Palestinians and Israelis to be free. Or the side who didn't. The side who turned a blind eye to genocide. I know which side I'm on.