Gilad Erdan, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States and the United Nations, slammed far-left Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) on Monday over inflammatory and false statements that she has made in recent days about escalating Palestinian terrorist attacks directed toward Israel.
Erdan’s remarks came after Tlaib promoted a debunked story that claimed that accused Israeli settlers of burning Palestinian land. “Stealing Palestinian homes and burning their lands,” she claimed without evidence. “The actions of an apartheid state. We cannot stand by and watch this happen. @SecBlinken, billions of U.S. taxpayers dollars support Netanyahu’s government and this racist violence. We must condemn this swiftly.”
Tlaib then tweeted a link to a foreign publication that has alleged ties to an extremist group, the Jewish Journal reported. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told The Jerusalem Post that it had evidence that Palestinians started the fires and that when the Israeli settlers arrived to put out the fires that a fight broke out.
The American Jewish Committee responded by writing: “.@RashidaTlaib , you shared a falsehood about Israeli Jews setting fire to Palestinian fields. This ugly claim has been retracted. You’re a member of Congress. Take down your tweet. Or is it okay to perpetuate untruths when they fit your policy agenda?”
Tlaib spread further deceptive information on Twitter on Monday morning, sharing a video allegedly from inside Al Aqsa mosque that showed explosions near the building, writing, “Al-Aqsa is the 3rd holiest site in Islam, & people praying during the holiest days of the holy month of Ramadan have been beaten, gassed, shot, & killed by Israeli forces. They are denied medics & forced to use prayer mats as stretchers.”
“A place of peace desecrated by violence,” she added. “American taxpayer money is being used to commit human rights violations. Congress must condition the aid we send to Israel, and end it altogether if those conditions are not followed. Statements aren’t working @SecBlinken. Enough is enough.”
Erdan called out Tlaib on Twitter, noting that she was leaving out the full context of what was happening at the mosque.
“Congresswoman @RashidaTlaib maybe you should open your eyes to the whole picture? Islam’s 3rd holiest site is being used to stockpile Molotov cocktails and rocks that are being lobbed at the police and at Jewish worshippers praying at the Western Wall, below the Temple Mount,” Erdan wrote. “Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have prayed freely at their holy sites, including in Jerusalem, over the month of Ramadan because Israel believes in freedom of religion and Israeli security forces work hard to enable all groups to pray in peace.”
“In contrast, some so-called Muslim ‘worshipers’ are curtailing freedom of worship for thousands of Jews who want to celebrate Jerusalem Day, one of the most important days on our calendar marking the reunification of our sacred and holy city,” he added. “Congresswoman, instead of calling for peace and calm, your tweets are the [sic] stoking tensions. Maybe you don’t realize that your words encourage terror groups such as Hamas to fire rockets into civilian populations and carry out attacks against Jews.”
No comments: