10 | MAY 18 • 2023 

PURELY COMMENTARY

A

s a constituent who 
resides in Southfield 
and on behalf of a 
synagogue located in your 
district, I am 
disappointed in 
and troubled by 
your Tweet from 
May 1, 2023, 
in which you 
declared “… the 
apartheid state 
of Israel was 
born out of violence and ethnic 
cleansing of Palestinians.
” 
First, your Tweet is rife with 
egregious factual errors in A) 
labeling Israel an apartheid state, 
B) implying the violence came 
exclusively from the Jewish 
side of the conflict, and C) 
insinuating that the Jews alone 
engaged in “ethnic cleansing.
” 
 Second, in a noble but 
misguided effort to generate 
sympathy for Palestinian people 
who are suffering, you engage 
in absurd and unnecessary 
reductionism of more than a 
century’s worth of history and 
complexity. 
Third, you succeed in 
dismissing the genuine and 
legitimate concerns and 
claims of the Jewish People, 
who overcame 2,000 years 
of oppression and murder to 
withstand the attacks of multiple 
Arab armies that invaded the 
land with the explicit intention 

of ethnic cleansing. 
Fourth, Israel exists as a 
democracy that offers full rights 
and protections to all its citizens 
equally, including women, 
members of the LGBTQ 
community, and Israeli citizens 
of Palestinian descent: freedoms 
and equality of citizenship 
denied to Jews throughout 
much of Jewish history in the 
Arab lands. The theocracies and 
despots who reign throughout 
the Middle East continue to 
deny their citizens the same 
freedoms that Israel offers 
and, to my knowledge, the 
Palestinian Authority denies full 
freedoms to at least the LGBTQ 
community, too. 
Nevertheless, Palestinians 
who hold Israeli citizenship 
today can thrive because of 
the educational opportunities 
as well as the freedoms of 
expression, privacy and speech 
among other freedoms afforded 
to all Israeli citizens alike in 
Israel’s vibrant democracy. 
 You are an elected official 
and member of the United 
States government, charged 
with representing the broad 
swath of constituents within 
your district. Please elevate 
the level of conversation 
in our country and avoid 
reductionism. Please speak with 
knowledge of the complexity of 
issues and avoid creating false 

binaries of good and evil. Please 
seek to deescalate extremism 
and avoid exacerbating political 
polarization. 
The Jews who live in Israel 
and the many Jews who live 
here in your district — all of 
us family to those in Israel — 
deserve better than what you 
are trying to do. Likewise, the 
Palestinians who live in the 
West Bank and Gaza and the 
Palestinians who live in your 
district deserve better than 
what you are trying to do. Your 
inflammatory Tweet hurts 
everyone and slows the progress 
toward freedom and self-
determination. 
I pray for the day when Jews 
and Palestinians alike know the 
blessing of self-determination 
and security, in which a 

democratic and peace-loving 
Israel can co-exist next to a 
Palestinian state that is likewise 
democratic and peace loving. 
Until that time, let’s strive 
to humanize rather than 
dehumanize; let’s work hard 
to understand with respect 
and compassion all sides of 
the various issues; let’s aim for 
education and collaboration; 
and let’s speak of the region’s 
complexities with respect 
and compassion. Frankly, 
I expect better from my 
congresswoman than what this 
Tweet offers.
Sincerely, 
Rabbi Aaron Starr 
 
 

Rabbi Aaron Starr is a spiritual leader 

at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in 

Southfield.

Rabbi Aaron 
Starr

letter

Dear Rep. Tlaib ...

Here is the Tweet by Rashida Tlaib that Rabbi Aaron Starr is 
responding to in his letter.

Editor’s Note: Rep. Rashida Tlaib wanted to hold a “Nakba” 
event in the Capitol Visitors’ Center last week, but House Speaker 
Kevin McCarthy canceled her request. McCarthy said, it’s “wrong 
for members of Congress to traffic in antisemitic tropes about 
Israel.
” (Tlaib did hold the event on the Senate side, with the help 
of Sen. Bernie Sanders.) On the right is Tlaib’s Tweet in reponse to 
McCarthy, accusing Israel of being an “aparthied state” born out of 
“ethnic cleansing.
” Congregation Shaarey Zedek Rabbi Aaron Starr 
felt compelled to respond to Tlaib. He shared his letter with the JN.