Rep. Angie Craig Votes To Censure Rashida Tlaib

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota and 21 other Democrats voted Tuesday to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib for her criticism of Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7 terrorist attack on the Jewish nation.

The 22 Democrats joined 212 Republicans in passing the U.S. House resolution on Tuesday. The final vote was 234-188.

Two other Minnesota Democrats, Reps. Betty McCollum and Ilhan Omar voted against the censure. Rep. Dean Phillips, who is running for president in the Democratic primary against President Joe Biden, did not vote.

All four of Minnesota's Republicans in the House voted in favor of the motion.

Tlaib, a Palestinian-American, has criticized Israel's responding attacks on Gaza and in 2021 voted against funding for the Israeli "Iron Dome" missile defense system.

Since the Israel-Gaza war broke out, Tlaib has also uttered the slogan "from the river to the sea," which the American Jewish Committee calls "antisemitic" and "a rallying cry for terrorist groups and their sympathizers."

"The catch-all phrase symbolizing Palestinian control over the entire territory of Israel’s borders, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea," the AJC notes.

Advocates of Palestine say the phrase is simply about ending Israel's occupation of territories that actually belong to Palestinians.

Sponsored by Republican Rep. Richard McCormick of Georgia, Tuesday's resolution accused Tlaib of "repeatedly displayed conduct entirely unbecoming of a Member of the House of Representatives by calling for the destruction of the state of Israel and dangerously promoting false narratives regarding a brutal, large-scale terrorist attack against civilian targets inside the sovereign territory of a major nonNATO ally while hundreds of Israeli and American hostages remain in terrorist captivity."

Tlaib is the second Muslim-American woman in Congress to be formally admonished this year for her criticism of Israel.

Omar, who represents Minneapolis and some of its suburbs, was removed in February from the House Foreign Affairs Committee for criticizing Israel.

In 2019, Omar apologized after she was criticized for her tweets about Israel. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the time characterized Omar's tweets as including "anti-Semitic tropes and prejudicial accusations."

But in February, Democrats — including Omar herself — suggested that Republicans targeted Omar because she is a Muslim refugee.