JNS.org
T
he Detroit Police
Department released
a suspect late on Nov.
10 it held for 72 hours in con-
nection with the Oct. 21 mur-
der of Downtown Synagogue
leader Samantha Woll.
As of JN press time, the
police declined to name the
suspect. The suspect’s defense
team, Allison Kriger and
Mark Kriger, confirmed the
man’s release to the Detroit
News, which reported that the
suspect made “an ambiguous
statement” to police, citing
law-enforcement sources.
“Four sources told the News
the man was an acquaintance
of Woll’s who was arrested
[Nov. 7] in Kalamazoo after
giving a statement to police
about the killing, although the
sources said they didn’t think
the declaration alone would
be enough to bring charges,”
the paper reported.
“
At this time, the details of
the investigation must remain
confidential including the
name of the suspect,” the
Detroit police posted on Nov.
9. “Investigators are at a critical
juncture in this case and are
working tirelessly toward
bringing this matter to closure.”
Despite having offered no
other explanation or details
publicly 23 days after Woll’s
murder — and in spite of a
large increase in antisemitism
following Hamas’ Oct. 7
terrorist attacks on Israel —
the Detroit police have said
that the evidence does not
suggest an anti-Jewish hate
crime.
JTA
T
he U.S. House of
Representatives censured
Michigan Rep. Rashida
Tlaib, Palestinian American
Democrat, for her rhetoric
in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7
invasion of Israel, including
using the phrase “from the river
to the sea.
”
The 234-188 vote late
Tuesday, Nov. 7, saw 22
Democrats vote to censure
Tlaib, and was sure to sharpen
divides among Democrats over
Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.
Some Democrats vehemently
defended Tlaib’s right to free
speech and others said the
“from the river to the sea”
term signifies the elimination
of Israel. The vote was largely
on party lines, reflecting the
Republican majority, although
22 Democrats voted for
censuring Tlaib while four
Republicans voted against.
Tlaib said she would not be
intimidated by the censure vote,
which will require her to stand
in the well of the House chamber
and listen to House Speaker Mike
Johnson explain why she is being
censured. “I will not be silenced,
and I will not let you distort my
words,
” she said.
The censure resolution
was initiated by Rep. Rich
McCormick, a Georgia
Republican, and focused on
statements by Tlaib since Hamas
launched the war. It noted that
Tlaib used the phrase on “from
the river to the sea” Nov. 3 on
social media and argued that
“it is widely recognized as a
genocidal call to violence to
destroy the State of Israel and
its people to replace it with
a Palestinian state extending
from the Jordan River to the
Mediterranean Sea.
”
Tlaib in her Nov. 3 post
on X, the platform formerly
known as Twitter, said she
used the phrase to describe a
democratic outcome for all in
that region. “From the river to
the sea is an aspirational call
for freedom, human rights
and peaceful coexistence, not
death, destruction or hate,
” she
said. “My work and advocacy is
always centered in justice and
dignity for all people no matter
faith or ethnicity.
”
A number of Jewish
Democrats decried the use of
the phrase, but said limiting
her speech set a dangerous
precedent.
Tlaib said that calling her
antisemitic was a means of
censoring her.
“The idea that criticizing
the government of Israel is
antisemitic sets a very dangerous
precedent,
” she said.
Police Release
Suspect in Murder
of Samantha Woll
JCRC/AJC Board Member Samantha Woll lighting candles in 2018.
COURTESY OF JCRC/AJC.
U.S. House of
Representatives
Censures Tlaib
Reps. Cori Bush, a Missouri Democrat, and Rashida Tlaib, a Michigan
Democrat, talk as they attend a bipartisan candlelight vigil with
members of Congress to commemorate one month since the Hamas
terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, at the U.S. Capitol, Nov. 7, 2023
DREW ANGERER/GETTY IMAGES
OUR COMMUNITY
26 | NOVEMBER 16 • 2023
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