Rashida Tlaib Accuses Israel of ‘Genocide,’ Calls for Muslim Americans to Build ‘Political Power’ in Call With Linda Sarsour

US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) participated in a video call with controversial activist Linda Sarsour on Sunday in which the...

The post Rashida Tlaib Accuses Israel of ‘Genocide,’ Calls for Muslim Americans to Build ‘Political Power’ in Call With Linda Sarsour first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) participated in a video call with controversial activist Linda Sarsour on Sunday in which the congresswoman accused Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza and called on Muslim Americans to build a “political machine” to combat the Jewish state from within the United States.

Over the course of the roughly nine-minute conversation flagged on social media, Tlaib repeatedly denigrated Israel and pro-Israel organizations and accused the US Congress of having no sympathy for the plight of Palestinians.

Last night, I sat in on CAIR Action’s National Emergency Call to Help Build Our Collective Power. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and Linda Sarsour were both there, and much of the conversation focused on funding and building a CAIR-sponsored SuperPAC.

00:00 – Sarsour introduces her… pic.twitter.com/lCMNUOSFdC

— Stu (@thestustustudio) July 29, 2024

The congresswoman also criticized Congress for inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to deliver an address, questioning why Palestinians were not invited before lawmakers to share their testimonies. 

Sarsour, the former co-chair of the Women’s March and a prominent anti-Israel political activist, heaped praise on Tlaib for providing “the type of dignity in Congress that we’ve never seen before.” She further applauded Tlaib for calling Netanyahu a “war criminal” and called on her fellow Muslim Americans to support the anti-Israel congresswoman. 

“We have to outwork the hate, and it is hate,” Tlaib said. “There’s no love for our community when we say ‘end the genocide’ or a welcome mat in Congress to listen to our pain.”

The congresswoman added that Muslims of all backgrounds share an “indescribable” connection to a Palestinian state. She encouraged Muslim Americans to try and influence US domestic policy on Israel by “organizing, raising the money, [and] building the political power.” She added that “those that are promoting genocide have muliple PACs, multiple movements.”

Though Tlaib did not specify which groups she was referring to, many progressives have expressed frustration with Zionist political organizations such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). AIPAC, the most prominent pro-Israel lobbying organization in the US, has spent millions of dollars during the current election cycle to defeat anti-Israel lawmakers. The group notched its most notable victory in June when it spent a staggering $14.5 million to unseat prominent anti-Israel lawmaker Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY).

“What we’re doing here is outworking the hate,” Tlaib said, claiming that other lawmakers refuse to assert that “Palestinians deserve to live.”

“It’s never going to be perfect. I know, I’m impatient, too. I want this to end. I want us to be fully seen and heard by our government,” Tlaib said.

Comparing the pro-Palestinian movement to the American Civil Rights Movement, she argued that activists will only achieve success when they “organize” and “push back” against the US government.

The congresswoman then blasted the US House of Representatives for passing an amendment in June which would prohibit the US State Department from using funds from the international affairs budget to cite casualty figures from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health. A bipartisan group of lawmakers voted 269-144 to pass the measure. The health ministry, which is run by the Hamas terrorist group, has been criticized for fabricating and inflating casualty numbers.

In response, Tlaib accused the House of harboring “anti-Palestinian racism.”

“They don’t want us to be seen or heard when we’re alive. And they don’t want to even see us when we’re dead. So we have to do more in building political power,” Tlaib said. 

Lambasting America as “the number one investor of genocide” in the world, Tlaib urged Muslim Americans to stand up for Palestinian interests by donating to and supporting anti-Israel politicians. 

Tlaib has issued withering criticism of Israel in the months following Hamas’ Oct. 7 slaughter of roughly 1,200 people throughout the Jewish state’s southern region. Tlaib has repeatedly accused Israel of attempting a “genocide” on Palestinians and of inflicting “famine” on families in Gaza. She refused to condemn protesters who chanted “death to America” during an April demonstration in her district. The congresswoman was also a featured speaker at a terrorist-connected, anti-Israel conference in May.

The post Rashida Tlaib Accuses Israel of ‘Genocide,’ Calls for Muslim Americans to Build ‘Political Power’ in Call With Linda Sarsour first appeared on Algemeiner.com.