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After a ‘Nakba’ event is canceled by Kevin McCarthy, Rashida Tlaib hosts it with help from Bernie Sanders
WASHINGTON (JTA) — After being thwarted by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Rep. Rashida Tlaib succeeded in spotlighting Palestinian perspectives on Israel’s founding in an event on Capitol Hill — with help from one of Congress’ most powerful Jewish members, Sen. Bernie Sanders.
The Palestinian-American Democrat from Detroit also introduced a congressional resolution calling on the suspension of some aid to Israel.
Tlaib’s event on Wednesday, called “Nakba 75 & the Palestinian People,” featured the Arabic word for “catastrophe” that Palestinians use to describe the dispersion and expulsion of Palestinians during Israel’s 1948 war for independence. The event included cosponsors that have endorsed the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, such as Jewish Voice for Peace and Americans for Justice in Palestine Action.
Tlaib had originally reserved a room in the Capitol Visitors’ Center for the event, but McCarthy canceled it, exercising a rarely used prerogative of his office.
“This event in the US Capitol is canceled,” he wrote on Twitter on Tuesday, sharing an article from the Washington Free Beacon, a right-wing news website that called Tlaib’s event antisemitic. “Instead, I will host a bipartisan discussion to honor the 75th anniversary of the US-Israel relationship.” (Whether that event took place is not clear; McCarthy’s office did not respond to a request for comment.)
That decision earned McCarthy praise from an array of centrist and right-wing pro-Israel groups, which objected to the event, citing the participation of anti-Zionist groups.
“We commend Speaker McCarthy’s decision to shift the focus towards a civil, bipartisan discussion on Israel-US relations,” said a statement from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the foreign policy umbrella for a number of national Jewish groups. “This approach fosters mutual understanding and constructive engagement, laying the foundation for progress towards a more peaceful future.”
Tlaib then turned to the Senate, where Democrats are in the majority and where the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is chaired by Vermont’s Sanders. The progressive leader, who campaigned for her and whom she calls “amo,” or “uncle,” provided the room.
The meeting went ahead as planned, Jewish Insider reported, with the participation of Tlaib and Rep. Cori Bush, a Missouri Democrat who like Tlaib is an outspoken critic of Israel. Sanders’ office confirmed to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the senator signed off on the event, though he did not attend.
“Everyone needs an amo in the Senate,” Jewish Insider quoted Tlaib as telling the room. On Twitter, she was triumphant, writing: “Let the headlines read ‘McCarthy tries to erase Palestine but fails.’”
Centrist pro-Israel groups condemned Sanders for allowing the event to take place.
“It is disgraceful that @SenSanders allowed this event by @RepRashida to be held in our nation’s Capitol,” Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League who has called anti-Zionism antisemitic, wrote on Twitter. “Real conversations are needed around a path to peace, but not with groups & individuals who espouse antisemitism. We call on the Senate to condemn this event.”
On Wednesday, Tlaib also introduced a resolution marking the Nakba. It cited JVP and other anti-Zionist groups as endorsers, and was cosponsored by a number of Democratic representatives who have joined Tlaib in vocally criticizing Israel, including Bush, Jamaal Bowman of New York, Betty McCollum of Minnesota, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.
The resolution calls for the suspension of some forms of defense assistance to Israel. It calls on the United States to “reject efforts to enlist, engage, or otherwise associate the United States Government with denial of the Nakba” and to scrutinize Israel’s actions according to the provisions of the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018, which is named after the famed late Holocaust survivor.
Tlaib’s event and resolution came amid a series of congressional actions celebrating Israel’s 75th birthday, which the country marked in late April. Last month, a bipartisan resolution congratulating Israel passed overwhelmingly in the House and a similar one is under consideration in the Senate. Additionally, the leaders of both parties in the House — Democrat Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the minority leader, and McCarthy, a California Republican — visited Israel to join in the commemorations and festivities.
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The post After a ‘Nakba’ event is canceled by Kevin McCarthy, Rashida Tlaib hosts it with help from Bernie Sanders appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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‘The Art of the Yiddish Monologue’ and other mini-courses in Yiddish
במשך פֿונעם חודש יאַנואַר 2026 וועט ייִוואָ פֿירן די ווײַטערדיקע מיני־קורסן אויף ייִדיש:
• „די קונסט פֿונעם ייִדישן מאָנאָלאָג“, וווּ מע וועט לייענען און אַרומרעדן מאָנאָלאָגן פֿון שלום עליכם, י. לץ פּרץ, דער טונקעלער, ב. קאָוונער, משה נאַדיר, רחל ברכות און יצחק באַשעוויס. מע וועט אויל אַרומרעדן די געשיכטע פֿונעם מאָנאָלאָג אין ייִדישן טעאַטער (שיין בייקער)
• שעפֿעריש שרײַבן, וווּ מע וועט אויפֿן סמך פֿון ליטעראַטור־מוסטערן באַטראַכטן די וויכטיקע באַשטאַנדטיילן פֿון פּראָזע — שפּראַך, סטיל, דיאַלאָג, געשטאַלט און פּייסאַזש (באָריס סאַנדלער)
• יצחק־לייבוש פּרץ און זײַנע באַציִונגען מיט די נײַ־געבוירענע ייִדישע סאָציאַליסטישע קרײַזן אין משך פֿון די 1890ער יאָרן (עדי מהלאל)
• די גרויסע אַקטריסע אסתּר רחל קאַמינסקאַ, וווּ די סטודענטן וועלן לייענען אירע זכרונות אויף ייִדיש (מיכל יאַשינסקי)
• די לידער פֿון דוד האָפֿשטײן, וואָס איז מערקווירדיק צוליב זײַן צונױפֿפֿלעכט פֿון דײַטשישע, רוסישע און אוקראַיִנישע ליטעראַרישע טראַדיציעס מיט תּנכישע און מאָדערנע ייִדישע השפּעות (יודזשין אָרנשטיין)
• די ייִוואָ־גדולים אין זייערע אייגענע ווערטער, וווּ מע וועט לייענען די שריפֿטן פֿון א. טשעריקאָװער, מ. װײַנרײַך, י. לעשטשינסקי, י. מאַרק, ש. ניגער, נ. פּרילוצקי, ז. קלמנאָװיטש, ז. רייזען, י. שאַצקי און נ. שטיף (דוד בראַון)
The post ‘The Art of the Yiddish Monologue’ and other mini-courses in Yiddish appeared first on The Forward.
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Suspect at Large in Brown University Shooting that Killed at Least Two, Injured Eight
Police vehicles stand near the site of a mass shooting reported by authorities at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, U.S., December 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Taylor Coester
Police in Rhode Island were searching for a suspect in a shooting at Brown University in Providence in which two people died and eight were critically wounded at the Ivy League school, officials said.
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley told a news conference that police were still searching for the shooter, who struck at Brown’s Barus & Holley engineering building, where exams were taking place at the time. Officials said police were looking for a male dressed in black and were scouring local video cameras in the area for footage to get a better description of the suspect.
Smiley said officials could not yet disclose details about the victims, including whether they were students. He lamented the shooting.
“We are a week and a half away from Christmas. And two people died today and another eight are in the hospital,” he said. “So please pray for those families.”
Brown is on College Hill in Providence, Rhode Island‘s state capital. The university has hundreds of buildings, including lecture halls, laboratories and dormitories.
President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that he had been briefed on the situation, which he called “terrible.”
“All we can do right now is pray for the victims and for those that were very badly hurt.”
Compared to many countries, mass shootings in schools, workplaces, and places of worship are more common in the US, which has some of the most permissive gun laws in the developed world. The Gun Violence Archive, which defines mass shootings as any incident in which four or more victims have been shot, has counted 389 of them this year in the US.
Last year the US had more than 500 mass shootings, according to the archive.
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Rights Groups Condemn Re-Arrest of Nobel Laureate Mohammadi in Iran
Taghi Ramahi, husband of Narges Mohammadi, a jailed Iranian women’s rights advocate, who won the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize, poses with an undated photo of himself and his wife, during an interview at his home in Paris, France, October 6, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Christian Hartmann
International human rights groups have condemned the re-arrest of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi in Iran, with the Nobel committee calling on Iranian authorities to immediately clarify her whereabouts.
Mohammadi’s French lawyer, Chirine Ardakani, said on X that the human rights activist was arrested on Friday after denouncing the suspicious death of lawyer Khosrow Alikordi at his memorial ceremony in the northeastern city of Mashhad.
Mashhad prosecutor Hasan Hematifar told reporters on Saturday that Mohammadi was among 39 people arrested after the ceremony.
Hematifar said she and Alikordi’s brother had made provocative remarks at the event and encouraged those present “to chant ‘norm‑breaking’ slogans” and disturb the peace, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
The prosecutor said Mashhad’s chief of police and another officer received knife wounds when trying to manage the scene.
CALLS FOR RELEASE
The Norwegian Nobel Committee called on Iranian authorities “to immediately clarify Mohammadi’s whereabouts, ensure her safety and integrity, and to release her without conditions.”
The European Union also called for Mohammadi’s release. “The EU urges Iranian authorities to release Ms Mohammadi, taking also into account her fragile health condition, as well as all those unjustly arrested in the exercise of their freedom of expression,” an EU spokesperson said on Saturday.
A video purportedly showing Mohammadi, 53, without the mandatory veil, standing on a car with a microphone and chanting “Long Live Iran” in front of a crowd, has gone viral on social media.
Ardakani said Mohammadi was beaten before her arrest.
Reporters Without Borders said four journalists and other participants were also arrested at the memorial for human rights lawyer Alikordi, who was found dead in his office on December 5.
Authorities gave the cause of his death as a heart attack, but rights groups have called for an investigation into his death.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said the crowd also chanted “death to the dictator,” a reference to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as: “We fight, we die, we accept no humiliation.”
Mohammadi, who received the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize, has spent more than 10 years of her life in prison, most recently from November 2021 when she was charged with “propaganda against the state,” “acting against national security,” and membership of “illegal organizations.”
This year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, the Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, said on Saturday that the opposition’s campaign in Venezuela was akin to that taking place in Iran.
“In Oslo this week, the world honored the power of conscience. I said to the ‘citizens of the world’ that our struggle is a long march toward freedom. That march is not Venezuelan alone. It is Iranian, it is universal,” she said on X on Saturday.