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Rashida Tlaib Accuses Israel of ‘Genocide,’ Calls for Muslim Americans to Build ‘Political Power’ in Call With Linda Sarsour
US Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), left, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) listen during a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, July 18, 2019. Photo: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) participated in a video call with controversial activist Linda Sarsour on Sunday in which the congresswoman accused Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza and called on Muslim Americans to build a “political machine” to combat the Jewish state from within the United States.
Over the course of the roughly nine-minute conversation flagged on social media, Tlaib repeatedly denigrated Israel and pro-Israel organizations and accused the US Congress of having no sympathy for the plight of Palestinians.
Last night, I sat in on CAIR Action’s National Emergency Call to Help Build Our Collective Power. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and Linda Sarsour were both there, and much of the conversation focused on funding and building a CAIR-sponsored SuperPAC.
00:00 – Sarsour introduces her… pic.twitter.com/lCMNUOSFdC
— Stu (@thestustustudio) July 29, 2024
The congresswoman also criticized Congress for inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to deliver an address, questioning why Palestinians were not invited before lawmakers to share their testimonies.
Sarsour, the former co-chair of the Women’s March and a prominent anti-Israel political activist, heaped praise on Tlaib for providing “the type of dignity in Congress that we’ve never seen before.” She further applauded Tlaib for calling Netanyahu a “war criminal” and called on her fellow Muslim Americans to support the anti-Israel congresswoman.
“We have to outwork the hate, and it is hate,” Tlaib said. “There’s no love for our community when we say ‘end the genocide’ or a welcome mat in Congress to listen to our pain.”
The congresswoman added that Muslims of all backgrounds share an “indescribable” connection to a Palestinian state. She encouraged Muslim Americans to try and influence US domestic policy on Israel by “organizing, raising the money, [and] building the political power.” She added that “those that are promoting genocide have muliple PACs, multiple movements.”
Though Tlaib did not specify which groups she was referring to, many progressives have expressed frustration with Zionist political organizations such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). AIPAC, the most prominent pro-Israel lobbying organization in the US, has spent millions of dollars during the current election cycle to defeat anti-Israel lawmakers. The group notched its most notable victory in June when it spent a staggering $14.5 million to unseat prominent anti-Israel lawmaker Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY).
“What we’re doing here is outworking the hate,” Tlaib said, claiming that other lawmakers refuse to assert that “Palestinians deserve to live.”
“It’s never going to be perfect. I know, I’m impatient, too. I want this to end. I want us to be fully seen and heard by our government,” Tlaib said.
Comparing the pro-Palestinian movement to the American Civil Rights Movement, she argued that activists will only achieve success when they “organize” and “push back” against the US government.
The congresswoman then blasted the US House of Representatives for passing an amendment in June which would prohibit the US State Department from using funds from the international affairs budget to cite casualty figures from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health. A bipartisan group of lawmakers voted 269-144 to pass the measure. The health ministry, which is run by the Hamas terrorist group, has been criticized for fabricating and inflating casualty numbers.
In response, Tlaib accused the House of harboring “anti-Palestinian racism.”
“They don’t want us to be seen or heard when we’re alive. And they don’t want to even see us when we’re dead. So we have to do more in building political power,” Tlaib said.
Lambasting America as “the number one investor of genocide” in the world, Tlaib urged Muslim Americans to stand up for Palestinian interests by donating to and supporting anti-Israel politicians.
Tlaib has issued withering criticism of Israel in the months following Hamas’ Oct. 7 slaughter of roughly 1,200 people throughout the Jewish state’s southern region. Tlaib has repeatedly accused Israel of attempting a “genocide” on Palestinians and of inflicting “famine” on families in Gaza. She refused to condemn protesters who chanted “death to America” during an April demonstration in her district. The congresswoman was also a featured speaker at a terrorist-connected, anti-Israel conference in May.
The post Rashida Tlaib Accuses Israel of ‘Genocide,’ Calls for Muslim Americans to Build ‘Political Power’ in Call With Linda Sarsour 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.