JUNE 6 • 2024 | 17
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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