Twitter fact-checks ‘Squad’ Democrat for calling Israel an ‘apartheid state’: Rashida Tlaib is flagged for claiming the state was ‘born of violence and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians’
- Rep. Rashida Tlaib was immediately fact-checked on Twitter after referring to Israel as an ‘apartheid state’
- The fact check found that the 21.1 percent of Arab people living in Israel have equal rights under the law
- Tlaib also said the nation was “born out of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians,” something that was also considered inaccurate.
‘Squad’ member Rashida Tlaib has been berated by Elon Musk’s Twitter for referring to Israel as an ‘apartheid state’.
In a tweet, the Michigan lawmaker claimed that the state of Israel was “born out of violence and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.”
Tlaib commented on Representative Kevin McCarthy’s visit to Israel this week, praising the special relationship between the two countries.
Speaker McCarthy wants to rewrite history, but the apartheid state of Israel was born out of violence and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. 75 years later, the Nakba continues to this day,” the tweet read.
Her post became the subject of a near-live fact-checking that revealed the various errors in Tlaib’s tweet. This is the seventh time Tlaib has called Israel an apartheid state on her official Twitter.
Are noted in the fact check that the State of Israel was created thanks to United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181.
Squad member Rashida Tlaib has been called out on Elon Musk’s Twitter for referring to Israel as an ‘apartheid state’
The fact check too pointed out that the “ethnic cleansing” referred to by Tlaib “affected both Jewish and Arab communities caught up in the war initiated by 5 Arab states opposed to Israel’s existence.”
The last point noted that Israel has 21.1 percent Arab students with full and equal rights.
Nakba is a Palestinian expression used to describe the formation of Israel.
Tlaib is barred from visiting Israel because of her support for the widely condemned economic boycott group BDS.
Community Notes is Twitter’s crowd-sourced fact-checking project. Last month, Twitter owner Elon Musk promised there would be “no exceptions” to the fact-checking system.
The South African noted that the fact-checking would extend to heads of state, celebrities and even himself.
Tlaib’s tweet comes as conservatives continue to scrutinize Silicon Valley’s algorithms, which humans consider biased against the right.
During his visit to Israel, Rep. McCarthy to the Israeli parliament, a rare honor bestowed on the top Republican in American politics at a time of fraught relations between the Israeli government and Democratic President Joe Biden.
During his visit to Israel, Representative Kevin McCarthy spoke to the country’s parliament praising the special relationship between the two nations
Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented the speech as a nod to US bipartisan support for Israel as it marks 75 years since its founding.
Critics say the platform given to McCarthy — he is only the second House speaker to address the Knesset after Newt Gingrich in 1998 — is a targeted jab at Biden.
The Californian said the US “cherishes its unbreakable bond with Israel,” pledged continued funding for security assistance and said countries must “remain firm in our commitment that Iran will never acquire a nuclear weapon.”
Meanwhile, Tlaib has long been criticized for speaking about Israel and Palestine.
In 2021, Tlaib was blown up following a tribute to the Palestinian PhD student who died after ramming her car at an Israeli checkpoint and then running at soldiers with a knife.
The congresswoman caused a backlash after writing a tweet claiming that Israel was dehumanizing Palestinians by withholding the body of Mai Afana, who was reportedly killed after attacking Israeli army soldiers.
Also in 2021, Omar criticized the House of Representatives vote to give $1 billion to Israel for its Iron Dome missile defense system.
“We should also be talking about the Palestinian need for protection against Israeli attacks,” Tlaib said during the debate.
That same year, Tlaib struck a chord by calling Israel an “apartheid state” on Twitter.
“The US should make funding contingent on upholding human rights, and cut funding completely if those conditions are not met,” she added.