Photos from left to right: Mandi Wright, Sarahbeth Maney, and Kathleen Galligan ~ USA TODAY NETWORK
MICHIGAN, Nov. 6, 2023 ~ After Democrat Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (MI-12) defended the controversial protest chant “From the river to the sea,” she received backlash from some Jewish Michigan Democrats.
Tlaib, the only Palestinian member of Congress, posted on Friday to the social platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that “‘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.” This prompted heavy criticism from Michigan State Sen. Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield), Democrat Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin (MI-7), and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who are all Jewish.
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Nov. 5, 2023 ~ WJR Senior News Analyst Marie Osborne examines the escalating war between Israel and Hamas, the concerns that the conflict will broaden within the region, and the impacts that all this has on the Southeast Michigan region. Guests include former Michigan Congressman Mike Rogers, Arab American News Editor Osama Siblani, University of Michigan Gerald Ford School of Public Policy Associate Professor Javed Ali, Gerald Ford School of Public Policy Professor John Ciorciari, and Israeli Communications Professor Dr. Galit Benzur.
(CONTINUED) “I have supported and defended you countless times, even when you have said the indefensible, because I believed you to be a good person whose heart was in the right place,” Nessel said to Tlaib on X. “But this is so hurtful to so many. Please retract this cruel and hateful remark.”
The phrase, fully recited as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” was created by the Palestine Liberation Organization and refers to the land between the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea where Israel and Palestine are located. The chant has long been accused of being an antisemitic call for the violent removal of Jews from Israel, due to its adoption by the militant group Hamas. However, many protestors use the slogan to call for allowing Palestinians to return to their homeland under one, secular state that would let both Palestinians and Israelis to live equally.
Earlier on Friday, Tlaib accused President Joe Biden of supporting “the genocide of the Palestinian people” and pushed him to call for a ceasefire in the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict over concerns for Palestinian civilian life. The death toll from Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza passed 10,000 on Monday, with about 4,100 of them being children.
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