A contentious resolution has been put forward in the U.S. Congress to commemorate what Palestinian Arabs refer to as the “Nakba,” marking 77 years since what they see as the “catastrophe” of Israel’s founding, according to JNS. The term Nakba, Arabic for disaster or catastrophe, is used to describe the displacement of Arabs during the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.
This initiative was led by Representatives Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota—three prominent members of the so-called “Squad,” a group frequently criticized for their consistent hostility toward the State of Israel.
In a strongly worded statement released alongside the resolution, Rep. Tlaib declared, “The Makba never ended. Today, we are witnessing the Israeli apartheid regime carry out genocide in Gaza. It is a campaign to erase Palestinians from existence.”
Since her entry into Congress, Tlaib has repeatedly condemned Israel and amplified anti-Israel rhetoric, particularly in the wake of the ongoing war with Hamas. Her accusations have only grown more inflammatory throughout the conflict.
Following the brutal Hamas-led massacre on October 7, 2023, Tlaib intensified her attacks, slamming Israel as an “apartheid system” and denouncing the U.S. government for sending billions of dollars in aid “to support the apartheid government.”
She also drew significant backlash for defending the phrase “from the river to the sea,” which is widely recognized as a call for the eradication of Israel. Tlaib insisted it was merely a slogan for Palestinian freedom, declining to retract or revise her usage of it.
Tlaib was further criticized after accusing the IDF of targeting a hospital in Gaza, when later evidence confirmed that the explosion was caused by a misfired Islamic Jihad rocket.
Ilhan Omar’s antagonism toward Israel dates back years. In 2019, she ignited a firestorm on Twitter by implying that Republican lawmakers were doing the bidding of the pro-Israel group AIPAC.
Although she eventually deleted the tweets and issued a mild apology, her remarks added to the growing scrutiny of her statements on Israel and Jewish Americans.
In October 2023, Omar faced renewed condemnation for reposting an image of deceased children, attributing their deaths to Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. However, the photo was later exposed as having originated from a Syrian chemical weapons attack, not Israeli action.
She also prematurely pointed the finger at Israel for an explosion at a Gaza hospital that was later confirmed to be the result of a rocket fired by Islamic Jihad.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, often referred to as AOC, has a history of voicing criticism of Israel as well. In 2019, during an interview with Israel’s Channel 12 News, she expressed disapproval of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and argued that criticizing the Israeli government should not be equated with antisemitism.
In another interview, AOC described Israel’s treatment of Palestinians as “criminal,” claiming the Palestinians had been left with no alternative but to “riot.”
More recently, she went so far as to accuse Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinian people. When challenged on her use of such incendiary language, she stood by it in an interview with CNN, asserting that the situation in Gaza had “crossed the threshold of intent.”
The resolution also drew support from additional Democratic lawmakers, including Representatives André Carson of Indiana, Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Delia Ramirez of Illinois, Lateefah Simon of California, and Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey.
{Matzav.com}