JUNE 6 • 2024 | 17
J
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President Biden.”
Tlaib delivered her
15-minute speech from a
podium embellished with
a logo depicting the entire
map of Israel covered with
the green of the Palestinian
flag. Other speakers at the
three-day conference included
Mohammed Nabulsi, Roua
Daas, Monadel Herzallah, and
Lara Kiswani, people who
praised Iran’s attack on Israel,
categorized the brutality of
the Oct. 7 attacks as justified
resistance, and have known
ties to U.S.-recognized
terror organizations such
as the Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine.
The conference was
organized by American
Muslims for Palestine, the
Palestine Youth Movement
and other organizations, and
drew over 3,000 participants.
ADL’S RESPONSE
The Anti-Defamation League
closely monitored the event
and on May 27 announced on
X that it would be providing
an in-depth analysis from the
ADL Center on Extremism,
which will “examine the trou-
bling and dangerous rhetoric
shared at this conference, from
the explicit endorsement of
violence to the amplification
of age-old antisemitic tropes.”
The ADL condemned the
opening words of Nabulsi,
president of the Palestinian
Youth Movement, who praised
the so-called “Palestinian
Resistance” and expressed his
hope that attendees would
“craft a path forward that truly
brings the Zionist state and
its military and its imperialist
backers to their knees.”
The ADL’s website, adl.
org, stated, “The ‘People’s
Conference for Palestine’ was
troubling not only for the
extreme rhetoric that was
embraced, but also the clear
message it sent indicating
that these extreme positions
are accepted by nearly all of
the major players in the anti-
Zionist movement.”
‘NO PLACE FOR
VIOLENT RHETORIC’
According to
reports from the
Jewish Insider,
Michigan Sen.
Gary Peters
decried Tlaib’s
speech.
Peters stated he
“understands how personal
the issues around the war
between Israel and Hamas are
for Michiganders. I believe
that individuals have the
right to gather and advocate
for their personal beliefs.
However, I believe there is no
place for violent rhetoric or
advocacy of violence in these
discussions.”
Peters, who serves as
chairman of the Homeland
Security and Governmental
Affairs Committee, stated he
is also “concerned the Chinese
and Russian governments
will continue to try to
exploit divisions within U.S.
domestic politics to sow
chaos, something our nation’s
intelligence officials have
warned about.”
He urges Michiganders to
be attentive to such potential
interventions by foreign actors
and organizations.
HAMAS PROPAGANDA
Tlaib repeatedly used the term
genocide — a term originally
coined to describe the mur-
der of 6 million Jews in the
Holocaust — when describing
the tragic deaths of Gazan
civilians. All casualty figures
from the now eight-month
war come from the Hamas-
controlled Gaza Ministry of
Health. Leading urban war
experts, including West Point’s
John Spencer, repeatedly
stated that the precautions
Israel has taken to prevent
civilian harm during this war
not only surpasses that of any
military in history, including
the United States, but also
go above and beyond what is
required by international law,
according to reporting from
Tablet magazine.
According to reports from
the Israel Defense Forces,
12,000 Hamas terrorists have
been killed and most of these
are men.
Tlaib also repeatedly
delivered a message that
providing Israel with
military aid takes away from
funding social issues that are
important to her progressive
constituents. According to the
Committee for a Responsible
Federal Budget, the federal
government allocated about
1% of total spending to foreign
aid. This is consistent with
trends over the past 20 years.
According to the
Congressional Research
Service, the United States
committed over $3.3 billion
in foreign assistance to Israel
in 2022, with $8.8 million
allocated to the country’s
economy and the rest toward
the Israeli military.
All current military aid to
Israel is part of the 10-year,
$38 billion Memorandum of
Understanding signed with
the U.S. in 2016. The MOU
supports updating the Israeli
aircraft fleet and maintaining
the country’s missile defense
system. The agreement
commits $500 million in
missile defense funding and
$3.3 billion in other military
funding each year from 2019
to 2028.
In February, Congress
passed an emergency package
of military aid to Israel to the
tune of $14 billion. To this,
Tlaib decried the decision as
“funding genocide.”
To the responses of “shame”
from the audience, Tlaib said:
“I watched my colleagues,
one by one voting yes to send
$14 billion to the apartheid
regime. All I kept thinking is
that the United States is the
primary investor and funder
of genocide. We are literally
co-conspirators.”
GETTING IT WRONG
Of local interest was Tlaib’s
misleading claim that there
is currently no lead-free
drinking water for Detroit’s
schoolchildren.
In 2018, lead and copper
were detected in water from
drinking fountains in many
Detroit Public Schools
Community District buildings.
All drinking fountains were
disabled and covered with
garbage bags.
In 2019, according to Chalk-
beat, over 500 water hydration
stations were installed at every
district school with built-in
filters to purify the water
from any lead or copper. The
project was made possible
by $3 million in donations
from companies, foundations,
organizations and individual
donors. No taxpayer money
was spent on the project.
Additional funding signed
into law by Gov. Gretchen
Whitmer in February 2024
provided $50 million in
state funding to install lead-
reducing water stations at
schools and childcare centers
throughout the state.
All state public schools and
childcare centers must test
their drinking water every
two years, according to the
Michigan Department of
Environment, Great Lakes and
Energy.
Gary Peters