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‘Hamas Members, Like All Palestinians, Just Want Freedom’: Rashida Tlaib Appears with Speaker Who Defended Hamas
US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) speaks at a rally calling on Congress to censure President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, April 30, 2019. Photo: Reuters / Aaron P. Bernstein.
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib participated in an event late last week with a pro-Palestine activist who has defended Hamas, doubted that it engaged in sexual and gender-based violence during its October 7 terrorist attack, and compared Gaza to Auschwitz.
Tlaib appeared with the speaker, Huwaida Arraf, at a Zoom event last Thursday to launch the new political wing of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, whose goal is to end military aid to Israel.
Arraf, who is a civil and human rights attorney, founder of the International Solidarity Movement, and former staffer at Seeds of Peace, posted a graphic on October 7 suggesting that Hamas’s attack was not terrorism.
What Western “leaders” and mainstream media will have you believe… #Gaza pic.twitter.com/kBm1e7siUi
— Huwaida Arraf (@huwaidaarraf) October 7, 2023
The image of the hang glider became synonymous with the idea of “Palestinian resistance” in the days following October 7. However, it was Hamas operatives on hang gliders who massacred more than 250 young people at a music festival that was taking place in southern Israel.
Two days later, on October 9, Arraf wrote “No matter how much Israel bombs, starves and kills Palestinians, they will never be able to extinguish the Palestinian desire to LIVE FREE. Support for Israel’s brutal aggression will only fuel more resistance. #Gaza”
In a statement to The Algemeiner, Democratic Majority for Israel wrote: “It’s reprehensible that Congresswoman Tlaib would associate herself with those who deny or even celebrate the terrorist group Hamas’ horrific attacks of October 7 that resulted in 1,200 deaths and included raping, burning, mutilating and executing women and children.”
In November, after disclaiming that she does not support Hamas in part due to its religious ideology, wrote that “Hamas members, like all Palestinians, just want freedom. They have always warmly welcomed people, irrespective of religion and nationality, including Jewish Israelis, who come in solidarity, not as occupiers.”
Then, in December, Arraf posted doubting that Hamas engaged in sexual and gender-based violence during its October 7 attack, writing “Israel continues to refuse independent investigations into its claims that Hamas raped Israeli women and girls. If it happened, it is a war crime and should be dealt with accordingly. So far though, all we have is inconsistent claims from someone who says she saw something (not a survivor of assault herself) and statements from someone tied to the Israeli government who has started a project. And, of course, Israeli government claims.”
However, independent investigations by newspapers such as The New York Times and The Guardian, based on eyewitness testimony and video, have found that the use of sexual and gender-based violence was widespread on October 7. Both investigations were published after Arraf’s post, but she did not respond to a request for comment asking if the subsequent investigations changed her view on this particular subject. She also did not respond to a request for comment on any of her other posts.
Tlaib’s Communications Director did not respond to a request for comment on whether the congresswoman was aware of Arrafs’s views prior to the event.
Most recently, after The Algemeiner had already reached out to Tlaib’s office, Arraf posted a graphic comparing Israel’s war in Gaza to Auschwitz on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
During the event, they spoke about, among other things, how to make Palestine a local issue.
Tlaib said that most taxpayers don’t want their money to go to “death and destruction” and “apartheid.”
Arraf said “The forces that we’re up against are so very great. And recognizing the interconnectedness of the struggle — the fact that we’re likely fighting the same forces trying to keep us down and that profit from our oppression — is important to strengthen our voices.”
The post ‘Hamas Members, Like All Palestinians, Just Want Freedom’: Rashida Tlaib Appears with Speaker Who Defended Hamas first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.