Why Is 'Israel' Pushing to Remove Rashida Tlaib From the U.S. Congress?

A report published on The Interest revealed a political action committee's efforts to oust Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib.

The group includes pro-"Israel" politicians, leaders, and businessmen, who have allocated considerable funds to the plan.

Its owner supports the U.S.–Israel Relations Committee (AIPAC) and the Republican Party, mainly aiming to defeat Representative Rashida Tlaib in the upcoming elections. The Committee planned to spend $1 million for that purpose.

According to the report, the new Political Action Committee presents itself as promoting urban communities and reducing the wealth gap between white Americans and African Americans, setting its first and most prominent goal, Michigan Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib.

The commission was announced in October, involving 40 African-American businessmen and civilian leaders as "Urban Promotion Action," described The Tlaib Challenge as the "first race" and plans to spend $1 million to remove her from her seat.

They argued that Detroit, where a majority of African-Americans live, should be represented by an African-American deputy in Congress.

The group is mainly funded by Daniel Loeb, a preventive portfolio manager, although the financiers are initially unknown.

 

Spending Plan

The spending plan comes at a time when senior Democratic leaders continue to confront the progressive wing with the support of Republican financiers and outside groups supporting conservative candidates in both parties.

Democratic party leaders and allied groups spent millions defeating progressives in a series of primary nominations for the November elections.

In August, Tlaib faces her second nomination as a running back, after defending her 2020 candidacy by defeating Michigan native Brenda Jones and replacing Democratic Rep. John Conyers after a 2018 special election.

Tlaib's supporters point to what she has achieved for Detroit, including $15 million to spend on local projects in this year's budget.

As well as its efforts to expand the children's tax credit and help combat the epidemic it received for its region in 2020, Detroit received the fifth largest credit among major cities.

Political Action Committee spokesman Henry Greenidge said the group is targeting Tlaib because it "aims to nominate black people to office to defend common sense solutions and raise the morale of blacks."

Because of the redistricting of the Michigan area, "Tlaib is fighting her battle in a re-identified area and is not a representative in the city where America’s largest black majority lives, an area that we believe should be a black bloc in Congress."

 

Considerable Action

Tlaib and several progressives in the party opposed the plan in protest at the congressional leadership's abandonment of President Joe Biden's social spending package, which includes expanding the children's tax credit that Tlaib wants in Detroit.

In addition to Loeb, UEA PAC is backed by political pundits and former South Carolina state Rep. Bakari Sellers, who is also helping it raise funds.

"Somebody else can do the job better," Sellers told Politico.

Tlaib clashed with conservative officials in her party over her outspoken criticism of "Israel" and its violations of Palestinian rights. Her public demand for scrutiny led to U.S. funding for the Israeli occupation to make it a target for AIPAC, and Sellers is a close ally and pro-"Israel" group that supported Winfrey in March.

Tlaib is facing a challenge from former Michigan House Representative Shanelle Jackson, who has criticized her position on "Israel."

Loeb contributed $5,000 to AIPAC in April alone. AIPAC's Political Action Group, The United Democracy Project, spent millions of dollars defeating progressives in the Democratic Party this election cycle, endorsing more than 100 Republican candidates who voted to cancel the 2020 election.

In June, Loeb gave $125,000 to another political working group, the Democratic Majority for Israel, which spent similarly to defeating progressives this cycle. In March, Loeb provided $250,000 to the Republican-linked Congressional Leadership Fund and $50,000 to a similar fund, the Senate Leadership Fund.

Since August, he has provided $340,000 to the Senate Republican National Committee. Since January, he has provided $255,000 to the House Republican National Committee, and John Thune's campaign for South Dakota and Georgia Republican candidate Herschel Walker contributed to this session.

 

Against Israeli Occupation

The group supports Janice Winfrey, a Detroit-registered group that criticized Tlaib last year for voting against a bipartisan infrastructure bill and criticizing U.S. military support for "Israel" supported by Winfrey.

In May 2022, Tlaib called on Congress to recognize the Palestinian Nakba and promote the human rights of the Palestinian people.

The Palestinian-origin lawmaker said in a series of tweets posted on Twitter, that she had submitted a draft resolution to the U.S. Congress requesting "recognition of the Palestinian Nakba."

"I submitted a draft resolution recognizing the Nakba, which destroyed 400 Palestinian towns and villages, expelled more than 700,000 Palestinians from their homes, and became refugees."

In her tweets, Tlaib stressed the need to promote human rights and the values of justice, explaining that the Palestinian people "have been living since the Nakba of 1948 under persecution and racism."

She noted that "Israel" had been given "blank cheques" for violence.

"People refuse to recognize war crimes and human rights violations in Israel's apartheid regime, even though the Nakba is well documented and continues to this day."

The term Nakba is called the displacement of Palestinians from their land by "armed Zionist gangs" in 1948.

Some 800,000 Palestinians were forced to leave their homes that year, which saw the Israeli occupation’s founding, to escape "massacres committed by Zionist gangs," which killed some 15,000 Palestinians, according to a Palestinian government report.