Representative Rashida Tlaib partisan response to Biden

[AgnosticBoy]

On Tuesday, some news agencies were reporting that Israel bombed a hospital in the Gaza strip that killed 500 Palestinians. After this report there was widespread condemnation, especially on social media. One post that stood out to me was that of US Representative Rashida Tlaib. Here's a report on Rep. Tlaib's response to Biden following news of 500 dead Palestinians:

Tlaib, a Palestinian American and one of the most progressive members in the US House, took to X and called out Biden — who's normally a political ally of the Michigan Democrat — after the Palestinian health ministry said that an Israeli airstrike had devastated the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital.

"Israel just bombed the Baptist Hospital killing 500 Palestinians (doctors, children, patients) just like that. @POTUS this is what happens when you refuse to facilitate a ceasefire & help de-escalate," she wrote.

"Your war and destruction only approach has opened my eyes and many Palestinian Americans and Muslims Americans like me," she continued. "We will remember where you stood."

- Business Insider

Initially, it seemed Israel did not give a response to this, but it turns out they were taking time to gather more information into the incident. Now there's evidence that a Palestinian group was responsible for the rocket that hit the hospital in Gaza. Israel has presented some evidence, and it has been independently verified by the United States, as well. Here's some reporting on that from NBC:

The U.S. has independently assessed that it was a Palestinian Islamic Jihad group rocket that misfired and hit the hospital, two senior U.S. officials and a congressional staffer told NBC News. Biden also said that "appears" to be the case. Israel has insisted it did not bomb the hospital.

For Discussion:
1. In what ways is Rep. Tlaib's statement partisan? If you believe it isn't, then feel free to explain why.
2. What are ways to avoid such responses such as hers? Or how would a nonpartisan have dealt with this issue?

 

[AgnosticBoy]

1. In what ways is Rep. Tlaib's statement partisan? If you believe it isn't, then feel free to explain why.

Tlaib's statement showed a biased conclusion. Her and many others believed reporting from the Palestinian side, or perhaps even from Hamas, without any independent confirmation. Looking at her Twitter page, further confirms my suspicion that she is pro-Palestine AND biased against Israel. There's nothing wrong with being pro-Palestine but what I take issue with is when you support ANY side even when they are wrong and/or you are always against the other side as if they are automatically wrong on everything.

When it comes to this story of the hospital bombing, Tlaib and others were not only wrong on the facts, but also wrong (biased) on the process at arriving at a conclusion. To me, being wrong on the process is even worse than having a wrong conclusion. Given all of this, I would not vote to cancel or silence Tlaib just for having a different opinion, but I would do so if such opinion turned out to be false, and she was unwilling to retract her claim.

What are ways to avoid such responses such as hers? Or how would a nonpartisan have dealt with this issue?

I think it would've been wise to suspend judgement or preface your claim with not having independent confirmation or with saying that this is the claim of one side. Instead Tlaib ran with this story as if it was the absolute truth. Wait for there to be an investigation, wait for a response from Israel, etc.

 

[AgnosticBoy]

Update: Even more partisan behavior by Congresswoman Tlaib. She has been made aware of evidence that Israel did NOT bomb a hospital in Gaza but refuses to apologize. I just checked her Twitter page and she still has her claim about Israel posted on her Twitter page in a Oct. 17 post.

Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, of Michigan, refused to apologize Wednesday for saying a day earlier that Israel is to blame for the hospital explosion that day in Gaza, despite evidence from the U.S. defense department that the blast was likely caused by an errant projectile from Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Source: ABC

ABC news also reports that another Muslim Congresswoman, Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, retracted her claim regarding Israel bombing a hospital. The one reason I can imagine for Rep. Tlaib is not wanting to admit her wrong is because of her bias against Israel.

This type of partisanship is dangerous. It's not a surprise that she wouldn't want to acknowledge truths that go against her side. Not to mention, her posts, and others who believed it sparked massive protests throughout the Middle East.