In an exclusive statement to Breitbart News on Friday, Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.) blasted Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) for recent anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric, urging his colleagues “across the aisle” to join him in calling for Tlaib’s immediate removal from all congressional committees.

In response to Tlaib’s recent participation in an anti-Israel conference with purported terrorist ties as well having recently retweeted a slogan calling for the elimination of the Jewish State, the Western Pennsylvania Republican sought to garner support from fellow congressmen for his proposal.

“This week, Democrat Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib participated in a forum led by one of the nation’s most anti-Israel advocacy groups that featured other participants with reported connections to Hamas, terrorism financiers, and the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement,”  the statement reads. 

“Rep. Tlaib’s participation in this conference, coupled with her recently deleted retweet of a slogan calling for the elimination of Israel, are just the latest examples of a deeply disturbing pattern of anti-Semitism that has been on display since she was elected. Yet Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats refuse to condemn her heinous behavior.”

Noting his history of speaking out against hatred and intolerance, Reschenthaler expressed his awareness of the harm caused when antisemitism and other forms of bigotry are allowed to spread.

“As a Member of Congress representing southwestern Pennsylvania, I have seen firsthand what happens when we stand by and allow anti-Semitism and intolerance to pervade our communities. In 2018, eleven Jewish worshippers were killed and six others were wounded at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. The day after this cowardly act of violence, I stood in solidarity with Americans of all religions, races, and ethnicities at a vigil honoring the victims of this heinous crime, and the first time I ever spoke on the House floor was to denounce hatred and bigotry in all forms.”

Reschenthaler also contrasted Republicans vehemently rejecting such hate among their own while Democrats sit silently as fellow Democrats continue to spew hate.

“House Republicans demonstrated we have zero tolerance for hateful speech in our ranks. When outgoing Republican Congressman Steve King made inexcusable racist remarks, not only did he receive widespread condemnation from both sides of the aisle, but Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy rightfully stripped him of his committee assignments,” he wrote.

“Speaker Pelosi, on the other hand, is deafeningly silent. By failing to act and hold Rep. Tlaib accountable, Pelosi is emboldening her and others to continue spreading and escalating this dangerous, hateful bigotry.”

Reschenthaler concludes by urging his fellow congressmen on both sides of the political divide to join him promptly in calling for Tlaib’s dismissal from her committee assignments.

“It is past time we show the American people that there is no place in Congress, or anywhere, for this shameful intolerance. I call on my colleagues across the aisle to join me in calling for Rep. Tlaib to immediately lose her committee assignments,” he wrote.

Last week, as Breitbart News reported, Tlaib retweeted a post in honor of “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People” that read, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” before deleting the text which implied that “Palestine” rests between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, leaving no room for the current State of Israel. 

After deleting the text, the radical legislator replaced it with a message saying she was thinking of her family in the West Bank.

The deleted phrase was coined by Palestinian nationalists in the 1960s, when the entire Palestinian movement sought Israel’s elimination, and was later adopted by Islamists, including the Hamas terrorist group.

Along with Reschenthaler, other congressmen were quick to respond to Tlaib’s retweet.

Rep. Paul Mitchell (R-MI) called Tlaib “an embarrassment to the Michigan congressional delegation.”

“Disgraceful,” wrote Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) who is running against the anti-Israel Georgia Democratic Senate candidate Rev. Raphael Warnock. 

“No wonder [Rev. Warnock] has your full support — and the support of the Squad,” she added. “He’s bashed Israel for years, calling it an ‘apartheid state’ & celebrating anti-Semite Jeremiah Wright. I will ALWAYS stand with Israel.” 

“Where’s Speaker Pelosi?” asked Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney. “Where’s Leader Hoyer? Where’s the media asking Dems if they condemn this?”

Over Thanksgiving weekend, Tlaib along with Democratic representatives Ilhan Omar (Minn.) and Betty McCollum (Minn.) headlined the annual conference of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), one of the most prolific anti-Israel advocacy groups, lending their support to an organization which champions boycotts of Israel and has reportedly partnered with individuals tied to terrorism.

Judicial Watch, a conservative legal advocacy group, said, “Congress should reprimand three of its members for participating with financiers of Islamic terrorism in a conference sponsored by an anti-Semitic group with deep ties to Hamas, the Palestinian extremist group that calls for eradicating the state of Israel.”

Tlaib is scheduled to participate in a December 15 panel co-sponsored by the radical IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace groups, among others, under the banner “Dismantling Antisemitism, Winning Justice,” though some have expressed their reservations at having Tlaib speak on matters pertaining to what qualifies as antisemitism.

“Criminals don’t decide what a crime is,” says Director of Combat Anti-Semitism Sacha Dratwa. “With the same rationale, anti-Semites can’t determine what Jew-hatred is.” 

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