DEARBORN, Mich. (WXYZ) — Reaction in metro Detroit is coming in after the U.S. House voted Tuesday to censure Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib. Just one day after the censure, all 18 Republicans of the Michigan Senate signed a resolution calling for her to resign.
While the censure carriers no practical effect, it is a punishment just below expulsion from Congress. Tlaib is now the 26th person to be dealt a censure in U.S. history.
“I can’t believe I have to say this, but Palestinian people are not disposable," an emotional Tlaib said on the House floor Tuesday.
The vote came to 234-188 for the censure of the only Palestinian American in Congress.
She faced increased pushback on her stance of the Israel-Hamas war, particularly with her commonly used phrase "from the river to the sea." Tlaib says the saying is an aspirational call for freedom for Palestine. Michigan Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt disagrees.
"Ask any Jewish person and they see it as a call to eradicate the nation of Israel and people from the region, and Congresswoman Tlaib knows that. She knows what she was saying," Nesbitt said.
Nesbitt sponsored the resolution and hopes to see it go to a vote.
"She is not fit to serve. She's not fit to represent the people of Michigan Congress and she should resign," he said.
Tlaib did not respond to 7 Action New's request for comment on the resolution.
Meanwhile in her district, which spans all the way from Beverly Hills to Dearborn, events are still being put on by the community in support of Palestine and in support of Tlaib.
Imad Hamad is a Palestinian native who now lives in Dearborn. He believes the censure of the congresswoman is a stain on democracy. His organization, the American Human Rights Council, put on a vigil in Dearborn Wednesday night to reflect on the lives lost in Palestine. Many speakers at the vigil addressed the censure.
“I don’t think it was any threat. I don’t think it was any danger," he said. "People may like it, people don’t. People may accept it, people don’t. That’s fine — we’re in a living democracy here.”
