It seems like the overarching theme of Hanukkah went over Rep. Rashida Tlaib's head. The Congresswoman from Michigan released an early Hanukkah greeting to the far-left Jewish group IfNotNow ahead of their holiday party and, in doing so, invoked the "occupation" in Palestine.
She wasn't able to make it in person, but Congresswoman @RepRashida Tlaib sent this wonderful video to the folks at INN Detroit for their Chanukah party. Thanks, Rashida!
Check out the video and check the thread below for a INN Chanukah party near you soon! pic.twitter.com/LsoL1hLidt
— IfNotNow
(@IfNotNowOrg) December 20, 2019
In the video, she wishes an early happy Hanukkah to the organization's chapter in Detroit.
"You give me life," she gushed from her office in Washington DC. "Your 2020 platform calling for every public official to commit to defunding the occupation in Falistine and fighting anti-Semitism and white nationalism is one that I can support very strongly."
She said the group can consider her as their "partner" in Congress as well as in Michigan's 13th district that she represents.
Naturally, Jews on Twitter took issue with her politicizing Hanukkah and glossing over the fact Hanukkah that it is a holiday that celebrates Jewish nationalism.
"She really missed the theme of Hanukkah," one person noted.
She really missed the theme of Chanukah
— Todd Berman (@rabbitoddberman) December 20, 2019
Earlier this week. Tlaib also had the (dis)honor of being named one most prominent proponents of anti-Semitism in 2019 by the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
Tlaib found herself gracing a list with other offenders like Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, perpetrators of domestic violence against Jews in both the US and Germany, and the murderer of a French Jewish kindergarten teacher.
As for Tlaib, the organization wrote, "Rashida Tlaib, America's first Congresswoman of Palestinian descent, launched her career in the US House of Representatives by slandering colleagues who supported a resolution seeking to weaken the anti-Israel, Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement."
They also invoked an incident earlier this year, when she spoke about the "warm feeling" that she has because her Palestinian ancestors gave a home to Jews in Israel after the Holocaust.
There were, of course, many acts of violence between Arabs and early Zionists when they arrived in Israel, which is why her comment sparked outrage among many Jews.
