U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib finds herself fending off attacks from both the left and the right for her demands for a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Palestinian Gaza Strip.
Despite an escalating conflict that has led to more than 10,000 dead and fears of spreading into a larger war in the Middle East, few other elected officials have joined Tlaib’s call for a ceasefire, and the lone Palestinian American in Congress faces censure for speaking out.
Yet Tlaib’s views on the conflict align with a majority of Michigan voters, according to a new poll by Lake Research Partners, a polling firm for the DNC. The poll, which surveyed 513 voters, found that 71% of Michigan Democrats support a ceasefire, including a 53% majority who feel strongly.
“Michigan Democrats overwhelmingly support a mutual ceasefire to save countless lives,” Tlaib said in a statement. “I will continue to advocate for a ceasefire, for the release of hostages and those arbitrarily detained, and for an end to this horrific violence. The answer to war crimes is not more war crimes. We must work to save as many lives as possible, no matter their faith or ethnicity.”
That tracks with another poll from the Data for Progress, which surveyed 1,329 voters and found that 66% of Americans support a ceasefire, including 80% of Democrats and 56% of Republicans.
Across the world, hundreds of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets to demand a ceasefire, including at demonstrations in Detroit and nearby Dearborn, which has a high Muslim population. Over the weekend, Tlaib released a video that showed footage from the protests and accused President Joe Biden of supporting the genocide of the Palestinian people, warning that Biden is losing support from voters over the issue.
“Mr. President, the American people are not with you on this one,” Tlaib said in the video. “We will remember in 2024.”
Biden, along with a majority of elected Democrats and Republicans, has voiced full support of Israel in its fight against Hamas after militants killed 1,400 people in Israel on Oct. 7. While coming short of calling for a ceasefire, Biden and others have pushed Israel for a “humanitarian pause” to allow refugees to leave Gaza and for aid to enter, though critics say it is not nearly enough. Israel has said that it must destroy Hamas and that civilian casualties are unavoidable.
In Michigan, some 145,000 Muslim voters supported Biden in 2020, a state he won by 150,000 votes. Plummeting public support over the war in Gaza threatens his standing in the 2024 swing state.
Tlaib has also faced backlash from both Democrats and Republicans for her use of the popular Palestinian protest chant, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which they allege is antisemitic and calls for the destruction of Israel and removal of Jewish people from the land. Tlaib says the slogan simply calls for the freedom of Palestinians, who are discriminated against in Israel and face a severe Israeli blockade in the Gaza Strip and violence from illegal Israeli settlers in the West Bank, the other Palestinian territory. Tlaib’s grandmother still lives in the West Bank.
“It’s a shame my colleagues are more focused on silencing me than they are on saving lives, as the death toll in Gaza surpasses 10,000,” she said in a statement. “Many of them have shown me that Palestinian lives simply do not matter to them, but I still do not police their rhetoric or actions. Rather than acknowledge the voice and perspective of the only Palestinian American in Congress, my colleagues have resorted to distorting my positions in resolutions filled with obvious lies. I have repeatedly denounced the horrific targeting and killing of civilians by Hamas and the Israeli government, and have mourned the Israeli and Palestinian lives lost.”
She added, “Meanwhile, each day that passes without a ceasefire brings more death and destruction upon innocent civilians, who have nowhere safe to go, drawing outrage and condemnation from the American people and the international community. A majority of Americans support a ceasefire, but this Congress isn’t listening to their voices. I will continue to call for a mutual ceasefire, for the release of hostages and those arbitrarily detained, for the immediate delivery of humanitarian aid, and for every American to be brought home. I will continue to work for a just and lasting peace that upholds the human rights and dignity of all people, centers peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians, and ensures that no person, no child has to suffer or live in fear of violence.”
On Oct. 16, Tlaib introduced a “Ceasefire Now” resolution, with support from U.S. Reps. Cori Bush of Missouri, André Carson of Indiana, Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, and Delia Ramirez of Illinois. The resolution has since picked up a total of 18 sponsors — a small fraction of the House, however.
The only other Palestinian American elected to Congress was also from Michigan. Former U.S. Rep. Justin Amash of Grand Rapids, who is the son of Palestinian Christian immigrants displaced by the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, recently said relatives of his were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a church in Gaza.
“The ongoing destruction of Gaza is horrific,” Amash said in a statement, adding, “Children make up about half the population of Gaza. Among those who are fortunate to survive Israel’s bombardment, many will forever be traumatized and resentful. This is not a viable path forward for Palestinians or Israelis who hope for a peaceful future.”
A former Republican elected to Congress in 2011, Amash has been critical of the use of U.S. military force. He became an independent in 2019 and then a member of the Libertarian Party in 2020.
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