Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., is accusing President Biden of \u2018complicity\u2019 in the deaths of children in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
The progressive House \u2018Squad\u2019 member has leveled a barrage of criticism against the leader of her party over his response to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, even as she fields criticism from fellow Democrats over her own reaction to the crisis.<\/p>\n
\u2018You see this right?\u2019 Tlaib wrote to Biden on her Instagram Story on Sunday afternoon. She had shared a report from an outlet known as TCD News claiming that an Israeli airstrike had killed three children in South Lebanon.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Your silence is deafening. Your complicity is even worse,\u2019 Tlaib wrote. \u2018A whole generation of children is being wiped out in front of us.\u2019<\/p>\n
Hamas militants infiltrated Israel\u2019s borders on Oct. 7, slaughtering 1,400 people \u2013 mainly civilians, including children and the elderly. Hundreds of Israelis were taken hostage and many remain so.<\/p>\n
Tel Aviv responded to the surprise attack by blanketing Gaza with rocket fire, killing more than 8,500 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American in Congress, has been among a group of progressives calling for a ceasefire and urging the White House to press for one \u2013 calls the Biden administration have so far resisted. The administration has instead called for humanitarian pauses in order to get aid to Palestinian civilians as well as pull Israeli hostages out of Gaza.<\/p>\n
Tlaib posted a video on X on Friday night that said, \u2018Joe Biden supported the genocide of the Palestinian people.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Mr. President the American people are not with you on this one,\u2019 Tlaib said herself in the video. \u2018We will remember in 2024.\u2019<\/p>\n
However, that video landed Tlaib in hot water. Fellow Democrats criticized her for including \u2013 and subsequently defending \u2013 the use of the phrase \u2018From the river to the sea,\u2019 which critics say implies the destruction of Israel. The phrase has also been taken on by Hamas as a rallying cry.<\/p>\n
\u2018This phrase means eradicating Israel and Jews. Period. Dressing it up in a new PR ploy won\u2019t change that,\u2019 Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., wrote on X. \u2018Only a return of hostages, eliminating Hamas and liberating Gaza from oppressive terror will save civilian lives and secure the peace, justice and dignity you seek.\u2019<\/p>\n
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel wrote to Tlaib on the platform on Saturday, \u2018I 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. But this is so hurtful to so many. Please retract this cruel and hateful remark.\u2019<\/p>\n
The White House pushed back against Tlaib\u2019s criticism on Sunday. Deputy national security adviser Jon Finer told ABC News\u2019 \u2018This Week\u2019 that Biden officials \u2018strongly disagree with\u2026some of the terms used to describe this conflict.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018What I will say is, we know that this is a conflict about which there are strong views on all sides, including in the United States \u2013 including frankly, even within the United States,\u2019 he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n