Rashida Tlaib accuses Israel of 'war crimes,' 'ethnic cleansing' in online call for ceasefire

Detroit-area congresswoman Rashida Tlaib posted a statement on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday night accusing the Israeli government of "war crimes" and "ethnic cleansing" in Gaza and calling for an immediate ceasefire. The statement did not condemn any actions by Hamas or other Palestinian actors at war with the State of Israel. 

Tlaib, a Palestinian-American whose comments about Israel and its conflict with the Palestinians were a source of controversy even before the war broke out on October 7, cited "the use of white phosphorous bombs" as an example of an Israeli war crime. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch both accused Israel of using white phosphorous early in the war, citing videos that were posted to social media and photographs of Israeli munitions with identifying codes. The IDF denied those allegations. 

Although white phosphorous is not banned as a chemical weapon, its use in populated areas is prohibited under the Convention on the Prohibition of Use of Certain Conventional Weapons. Israel is not a signatory to that protocol. 

My statement on $14.3 billion in funding for Israel with absolutely no conditions on upholding human rights: pic.twitter.com/AX0hErzdpN

— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) November 2, 2023

Tlaib condemns Biden's challenge to reported death tolls

Tlaib's statement also accused US President Joe Biden of "baselessly [casting] doubt on the Palestinian death toll," "instead of helping end the violence." This was presumably in reference to President Biden's October 25 comment that he has "no notion that the  Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said it was "deeply disturbed" by those comments, and a Washington Post 'fact checker' column said it was "remarkably uninformed by history and precedent." The column noted, however, that even if the Hamas-run Health Ministry's total numbers are to be trusted, they do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Whether or not to trust the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza has been an issue in previous conflicts with Israel, but received newfound attention following the explosion outside the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City on October 17. The explosion was widely blamed on a supposed Israeli airstrike, with Palestinian casualties reported to be as many as 500. It was soon determined by both Israeli and US intelligence, as well as third-party observers, that the explosion was much more likely to have been caused by an errant rocket fired at Israel from within Gaza by Palestinian Islamic Jihad. 

The night of the explosion, Tlaib posted to X that "Israel just bombed the Baptist Hospital killing 500 Palestinians (doctors, children, patients) just like that." She left the post standing without qualification until a week later, a which point she added a statement acknowledging analysts' skepticism, but refusing to accept their conclusions absent an "independent investigation."

Media outlets and third-party analysts have raised doubts about claims and evidence offered by both Israel and the Gaza Ministry of Health, and I agree with the United Nations that an independent investigation is necessary.Read my full statement:https://t.co/G7lyXrkhmC

— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) October 25, 2023

Tlaib calls for 'dismantling' Israeli 'apartheid' as key to peace

"Achieving a just and lasting peace," Tlaib's statement said, "requires lifting the blockade, ending the occupation, and dismantling the dehumanizing system of apartheid." 

The language echoes Tlaib's statement on October 8, just one day after thousands of Hamas terrorists invaded the Israeli south, raping, torturing, and murdering more than a thousand Israeli civilians, and taking more than 240 people hostage. "I grieve the Palestinian and Israeli lives lost," Tlaib said, "yesterday, today, and every day."

"The path to the future must include lifting the blockade, ending the occupation, and dismantling the apartheid system that creates the suffocating, dehumanizing conditions that can lead to resistance."

Tlaib was harshly criticized for this statement. In response to claims that she had attempted to justify the attack, Tlaib said, "I do not support the targeting and killing of civilians, whether in Israel or Palestine," and that "the fact that some have suggested otherwise is offensive and rooted in bigoted assumptions about my faith an ethnicity."