Tlaib said that thinking about the Holocaust gives her “a calming feeling” in part because her “ancestors the Palestinians” helped create “a safe haven for Jews.”
By Aryeh Savir, TPS
Member of Knesset Michal Shir dismissed claims by US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) that the Arabs provided a safe haven for Jews after the Holocaust.
Speaking on the Yahoo News podcast “Skullduggery” on Friday, Tlaib said that thinking about the Holocaust gives her “kind of a calming feeling” in part because her “ancestors the Palestinians” helped create “a safe haven for Jews” at the end of World War II.
“I love the fact that it was my ancestors that provided that, right, in many ways, but they did it in a way that took their human dignity away and it was forced on them,” she asserted.
Responding to the claims on Sunday, Shir suggested that Tlaib “to open a history book from time to time.”
“The Arabs did not provide the Jews with anything after the Holocaust, except more wars and death,” Shir stated. “The Jews who survived the worst of all and immigrated to Israel to join their brothers and sisters in the land of Israel were forced to deal with terrorism and the Arabs’ repeated rejection of coexistence and peace until they had no choice but to defend themselves.”
“The Arabs did not agree to recognize the right of the Jews to the state at that time, and the Arabs are certainly not willing to recognize it today,” she underscored.
“In the State of Israel, there are an estimated 1.8 million Muslims living in the most secure and democratic country in the Middle East, which affords full equality of rights between Jews and Muslims, between women and men,” she added.
Israel is a “state that protects its Muslim citizens from the Islamic State (ISIS), Hamas and Islamic Jihad, who are just waiting for an opportunity to put a hand on them. I suggest Tlaib thank the IDF for this,” she concluded.
Tlaib is the first woman of Palestinian descent to be elected to Congress. She is an active supporter of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and has made comments perceived as anti-Semitic.
US lawmakers likewise slammed Tlaib for her inflammatory remarks.
Tlaib’s’ Twisted and Disgusting Comments’
“There is no justification for the twisted and disgusting comments made by Rashida Tlaib just days after the annual Day of Holocaust Remembrance,” House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) stated. “More than six million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust; there is nothing ‘calming’ about that fact.”
“Unfortunately, this is far from the first display of heinous anti-Semitic comments coming from Democrat House members this year, and it’s clear this is now the norm for their caucus,” Scalise charged.
He said it was “long past time” for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA.) to “take swift action and make it clear that these vile comments have no place in Congress.”
“All of us, regardless of party, must stand as Americans against the evil of anti-Semitism,” said House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.). “If the Democratic leadership continues to stand by in silence, they are enabling the spread of evil. History teaches us that anti-Semitism begins with words and becomes something far worse. Speaker Pelosi and Leader Hoyer must act now.”