Slotkin on Tlaib statement: ‘It shouldn’t be hard to condemn terrorism’

Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) took aim at Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) for her statement on the ongoing fighting between Israel and Hamas, which launched an unprecedented, deadly attack on Israel over the weekend.

“It shouldn’t be hard to condemn terrorists and terrorism,” she said on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper.” “Right? And that doesn’t mean you don’t have beef with the Israeli government. Lots of people — we saw a fifth of the Israeli population — had beef with the Israeli government, but it should be easy, especially with the details coming out to condemn terrorism and terrorists.”

“And Hamas is a terrorist organization and do not represent all Palestinians. You shouldn’t connect those two,” she continued. “So to me, I think that was the hardest part not just about that statement, but a number of statements that have come out from organizations and individuals. I don’t — I don’t question whether someone has the right to be angry at the Israeli government. I question their inability to condemn grievous, grievous violence and that’s what I think is.”

Tlaib’s statement on Sunday urging the Biden administration to halt funding to Israel was met with a swath of pushback. She called for lifting the blockade of the Gaza Strip and for “ending the occupation” in her lengthy statement.

“The failure to recognize the violent reality of living under siege, occupation, and apartheid makes no one safer. No person, no child anywhere should have to suffer or live in fear of violence. We cannot ignore the humanity in each other,” she said.

Tlaib, who is the first Palestinian-American woman to be elected to Congress, said she continues to “grieve the Palestinian and Israeli lives lost yesterday, today, and every day,” before calling for “dismantling the apartheid system that creates the suffocating, dehumanizing conditions that can lead to resistance.” She had previously criticized the Israeli government and had denounced a House resolution supporting Israel in a floor speech in July.

Her statement, along with a similar statement put out by Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), was met with criticism by both the right and the left. Two Democratic lawmakers — Reps. Josh Gottheimer (N.J.) and Ritchie Torres (N.Y.) — condemned the statements by Tlaib and Bush on Monday.

Israeli officials confirmed Tuesday that the nation’s death toll surpassed 1,000 from the attacks launched by the Hamas. Another 850 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank during retaliatory action taken by Israel.

The Hill has reached out to Tlaib’s office for comment.