Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib Slams NYT For Headline On Gaza Violence

U. S Democratic representative Rashida Tlaib slammed the New York Times for ‘dehumanizing’ people of Palestine. The congresswoman called out a news item published by the newspaper recently on the renewed fighting between Israel and the people in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Tlaib, who represents Michigan’s 13th district in the House of Representatives, tweeted that the news report feeds into what she called the lack of responsibility of Israel, who she said unjustly oppresses and targets Palestinian children and families.

“When will the world stop dehumanizing our Palestinian people who just want to be free? Headlines like this & framing it in this way just feeds into the continued lack of responsibility on Israel who unjustly oppress & target Palestinian children and families,” Tlaib tweeted, adding “#FreePalestine.” She included a screenshot of the headline that was published in the New York Times - “Gaza militants fire 250 rockets, and Israel responds with airstrikes."

The first Palestinian-American woman to serve in Congress, Tlaib's associations with pro-Hamas and pro-Hezbollah activists have been condemned before.

Recently the Zionist Organization of America had called on the Democratic party to throw Tlaib out of the party and congressional committees, saying the congresswoman's closest associates include "convicted terrorists, virulent anti-Semites and rabid conspiracy theorists."

Separately, Hamas announced a ceasefire agreement after two days of violence in the area. The ceasefire goes into effect Monday evening. Hamas said that “the past few hours saw intensive diplomatic efforts to achieve ceasefire agreement.” It added that the United Nations, Qatar and Egypt played a major part in the agreement, reported Jerusalem Post.

Israel did not confirm a ceasefire but there were no air attacks on Gaza and its army lifted a blockade imposed around the territory.

Since Saturday morning, Palestinian militants in Gaza have launched more than 600 rockets at Israel, which responded by attacking 320 militant positions. This was the biggest escalation in the area after the Israel- Gaza conflict in 2014.

Palestine has announced the death of 25 people, including a pregnant woman and a child but Israel disputed the account on the death of the last two, suggesting they died from Palestinian fire. Israel has confirmed the death of four civilians.

President Donald Trump's dislike for the New York Times is well known as he has repeatedly described the organization as "fake news." But now a Democratic politician is taking calling out the paper's reportage.

Tlaib has been a strong critic of Israel’s policies and an ardent proponent of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS).

Tlaib’s tweet comes a day after Australian Shia Muslim imam and president of Islamic Association of South Australia Imam Mohamad Tawhidi, who is also known as the ‘Imam of peace,’ slammed Tlaib and fellow congresswoman Ilhan Omar for not condemning Hamas terrorism.

He had tweeted: "Remember that time @Ilhan and @RashidaTlaib condemned Hamas’ terrorism? Neither do I."

Tlaib, however, dismissed the criticism against her, calling it a right wing media propaganda, reported the Washington Examinor.

Tawhidi has now taken issue with the congresswoman for calling out the NYT headline:

He asked on Twitter: "Are you an American Congresswoman or the Hamas Ambassador to the US? Your agenda is getting really stinky."