Rashida Tlaib target of bigoted comments by Florida commissioner

Southern Florida commissioner Anabelle Lima-Taub has accused Muslim congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) of wanting to “blow up Capitol Hill.”

Five days after Tlaib called President Donald Trump a “motherfucker,” the Hallandale Beach city commissioner signed a petition urging the White House to remove Tlaib from office. She shared the petition on her personal Facebook with comment:

“Proudly signed. A Hamas loving antisemite [sic] has NO place in government! She is a danger and [I] would not put it past her to become a martyr and blow up Capitol Hill.”

The post was deleted sometime Monday after The South Florida Sun Sentinel inquired about the statement.

Tlaib called the comment “terrible” in an interview with The Miami Herald. She said the comments were an attempt to rebuke supporters of Palestinian rights.

Lima-Taub took to Facebook again to justify her comments.

“I am offended by anyone who is NOT OFFENDED by Rashida Talib’s hateful rhetoric and pro BDS and other radical dangerous views calling for the obliteration of Israel, literally off the face of the map,” she said, referring to the map in Tlaib’s congressional office that relabels Israel as Palestine on a post-it note. “I remain unapologetic for my views that she is a danger to the peace process and demand an apology of her for relabeling Israel as Palestine on a map hanging on her wall in her congressional office.”

BDS refers to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, a campaign that supports boycotts against Israel. Lima-Taub herself is Jewish.

Tlaib became the center of controversy again last week after the Senate introduced a bill that would protect states’ rights to end contracts with companies that support the BDS movement. She criticized the senators who drafted the bill of “[forgetting] what country they represent.” Critics called this accusation an anti-Semitic “dual loyalty” charge, which suggests that the Jewish people are more concerned about Israel than about their country of residence.

They forgot what country they represent. This is the U.S. where boycotting is a right & part of our historical fight for freedom & equality. Maybe a refresher on our U.S. Constitution is in order, then get back to opening up our government instead of taking our rights away. https://t.co/KkmqjR58ZM

— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) January 7, 2019

Tlaib said in another tweet that her comments were directed towards the senators sponsoring the bill, rather than the Jewish people. Tlaib says she is against the bill because she says it suppresses free speech.

Angela Zielinski is an editorial intern at Metro Times.

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