Tlaib faces backlash by pro-Israeli lobby over participation in panel condemning antisemitism

Washington (QNN)- Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was strongly criticized over participating in a recent panel, rejecting antisemitism.

The panel, titled “Dismantling Antisemitism, Winning Justice,” was organized by the US-based Jewish Voice for Peace – a left-wing anti-Zionist NGO focused on the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

At the panel, Tlaib said she rejects anti-Semitism, adding that advocating for Palestinian rights was not a display of anti-Semitism.

She added those who harbor anti-Semitic sentiments fall on the right of the political spectrum.

“I realized just how antisemitism was so connected to my freedom, to my right to live as a Muslim in our country, as a child of immigrants,” Tlaib said. “I really realized just the connection of the anti-Muslim, anti-blackness, anti-immigrant and Jewish movement that was out there, and… if you open the curtain, it’s the same people coming after us.”

The panel was also attended by Marc Lamont Hill, a former political CNN commentator fired for supporting the Palestinians and calling for a Palestinian state “from the river to the see.”

Barbara Ransby, an academic with the University of Illinois at Chicago, who accused ‘Israel’ of ethnic cleansing, also attended the panel.

Also Peter Beinart, a Jewish essayist who recently called for a binational Israeli-Palestinian state as a solution to the conflict, attended the panel.

However, the panel was criticized by multiple Jewish groups and commentators for the decision to feature Tlaib and Hill, who have both publicly supported the Palestinians and have been called falsely anti-Semites for criticizing Israeli occupation.

However, Hill spoke to Newsweek newspaper about the criticism. “I think that everyone has a duty to speak out against anti-Semitism, that we all have a moral and ethical obligation to fight in solidarity with our Jewish brothers and sisters,” he said.

In response to the backlash, JVP told Newsweek via email that “it’s disappointing, but not surprising, that instead of embracing an opportunity to learn about dismantling anti-Semitism through solidarity, some anti-Palestinian groups and individuals have engaged in attacks and slander before the event has even taken place.”

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