“That is what I want 
people to remember.
I truly believe in human 
rights for everyone.”

— REP
. RASHIDA TLAIB

Rashida Tlaib 
poses in Detroit’
s 
Rosedale Park 
neighborhood.

on community benefits agreements 
and co-ops and worker justice. Rabbi 
Alana [Alpert] of DJJ and so many 
others came to testify and say we 
have to do something about water 
shutoffs, and that water is a human 
right. We’
ve always come together 
on social justice issues in my district, 
and we continue to work together. 
What’
s great is I’
m just “Rashida” 
to them. I’
m that girl that you can 
call, go file a FOIA [Freedom of 
Information Act request], or the one 
to hold hands or even do Shabbat 
together. 

In 2018 you told the Detroit News 
you were not planning on focusing 
on Palestine issues when you got 
to Congress. And now you have this 
reputation of being Congress’
s most 
vocal critic of Israel and the U.S.-
Israel relationship. Is that a charac-
terization you sought out?
I don’
t know. It’
s my mere existence. 
I get asked more about the issue 
of Palestine than my BOOST Act, 
more than the other issues. That’
s 
unfortunate, but I’
ve been very good 
about pivoting and saying, “Well, we 
need access to water, from Gaza to 
Detroit.
” 
I don’
t think I would be as pas-
sionate but for my Palestinian roots, 
for the fact I grew up in the city and 
have seen, firsthand, people’
s oppres-
sion and the struggle of being a child 
of immigrants. 
When I get asked about Palestine 
every so often, I speak the truth. And 
that seems to draw people’
s attention. 
Many of my colleagues have thanked 
me for just being there, and said, “I 
didn’
t know that was happening. I 
didn’
t ever see it that way.
” 

Do you only look to speak out on 
Palestine when you’
re asked about 
it?
Well, yeah. I mean, annexation. 
“Hey, Rashida, what do you think?” 
Well, of course I’
m like, “Yeah, let me 
explain to you what that looks like on 
the ground. Do you know, there are 
literally roadways that Palestinians 
cannot use?” It’
s that perspective of 
having people understand what it 
means through my lens.

What is your stance now on the BDS 
movement?
Well, I absolutely support freedom 
of speech, and people want to taint 
the freedom to boycott. It’
s a peaceful 
way to speak up and say, “I’
m against 
these human rights violations or 
these policies and this racism.
” And 
I am absolutely, very much adamant 
that people need the right to boycott. 
I raised my voice and said, “I believe 
in that kind of movement.
” I don’
t 
know where we would be in our 
country without the Montgomery 
bus boycotts. It’
s something that’
s 
part of our American fabric. 
So absolutely, people need to stop 
saying that the BDS movement is 
somehow anti-Semitic — there are 
Jews who support the BDS move-
ment. There are folks who truly 
believe in stopping racism of all 
forms, and they use the boycott as a 
form of speech.

Do you think one has to support BDS 
to be part of the Progressive move-
ment today?
I don’
t think so. No. I look at now 
with the “defund the police” move-
ment. I hear my residents. They want 
us to reimagine and invest in their 
communities. That’
s what I hear, but 
some of my colleagues don’
t hear 
that; they are coming from a differ-
ent perspective. It doesn’
t make them 
less progressive. 
I think of 2013, when Black Lives 
Matter was birthed. People literally 
were like, “I don’
t know, don’
t all lives 
matter?” There were memos being 
shared to stay away from that move-
ment, that somehow it meant maybe 
harming police. It misconstrued 
what it meant. But if you look at the 
foundation, it was mothers, Black 
mothers, who lost their children to 
police brutality and gun violence, 
and they spoke up and now every-
body’
s yelling, “Black Lives Matter.
” 
Right?
So again, a lot of my colleagues 
were not there on Black Lives Matter, 
but they are now. It depends, I think, 
on people’
s perception of what “pro-
gressive” means. I know this much: 
There are people in my caucus [who] 
don’
t support the BDS movement, 

continued on page 16

 JULY 16 • 2020 | 15

