‘Anti-Semitic’ Tlaib tweet on Blinken sparks backlash

“So long as he doesn’t suppress my First Amendment right to speak out against Netanyahu’s racist and inhumane policies,” Tlaib tweeted about the Jewish nominee.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Democratic Congresswoman and BDS supporter Rashida Tlaib (MI) came under fire Monday for a tweet about president-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, that some have criticized as “anti-Semitic.”

Tlaib replied to a tweet by Bernie Sanders’ campaign manager, Faiz Shakir, calling the pick a “solid choice.”

She wrote, “So long as he doesn’t suppress my First Amendment right to speak out against Netanyahu’s racist and inhumane policies. The Palestinian people deserve equality and justice.”

The tweet immediately sparked backlash from Jewish organizations, who questioned why the issue of Israel was immediately raised with the announcement of a Jewish nominee.

The tweet is especially ill-timed, considering that Tlaib was recently announced as a speaker on a Jewish Voice for Peace-sponsored panel on “dismantling anti-Semitism.”

Dov Hikind, founder of Americans Against anti-Semitism tweeted, “Biden names a Jew to his cabinet. What’s Rashida’s response?! ‘Welp, as long as that Judische pick doesn’t stop me from focusing my hatred on one country, Israel, then he’s a good Jew!’”

“It’s not your 1A [First Amendment] right you’re trying to protect but your vile Jew-hatred! That’s ALL yours!”

“The subtext: Blinken is Jewish so, of course, the leading anti-Semite in Congress just wants to ensure that the all-powerful Jew won’t suppress her right to condemn other all-powerful Jews,” tweeted radio host Jason Rantz.

From the other end of the spectrum, far-left former Russia Today journalist Sameera Khan called out Tlaib for not criticizing Blinken harshly enough.

“Blinken is a liberal interventionist who advocates ‘military deterrence’ to resolve conflict,” she tweeted.

“He doesn’t regret invading Afghanistan/Iraq; he argues that the problem was poor execution rather than illegal aggression. And he also thinks we didn’t do enough in Syria.”

“You [Tlaib] are awful.”