Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib refuses to apologize for using the pro-Palestinian rallying cry from the river to the sea” amid the war between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas.
On Wednesday, Fox News correspondent Hillary Vaugh asked Tlaib if she has any regrets for using the phrase and whether she is antisemitic.
“Congresswoman, do you regret using the phrase “from the river to the sea”? It’s used by terrorists to call for the genocide of the Jewish people. Do you regret using it?” Vaughn quizzed, to which the Palestinian-American lawmaker did not respond.
The reporter then cited comments by the White House this week, in which press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the phrase divisive and hurtful and said that “many find it antisemitic.”
Vaughn then asked Tlaib repeatedly, “Are you antisemitic, Congresswoman Tlaib?” all of which received no answers.
This comes after Tlaib posted on the social media platform X that the phrase was about “peaceful coexistence.”
“From the river to the sea is an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction, or hate. My work and advocacy is always centered in justice and dignity for all people no matter faith or ethnicity,” she wrote.
Critics have said that the “from the river to the sea” phrase implies the destruction of the state of Israel.
“It is fundamentally a call for a Palestinian state extending from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, territory that includes the State of Israel, which would mean the dismantling of the Jewish state,” the Anti-Defamation League said on its website. “It is an antisemitic charge denying the Jewish right to self-determination, including through the removal of Jews from their ancestral homeland.”
Earlier last month, the Iran-backed Hamas attacked Israel and invaded towns along the Gaza border, killing at least 700 people. The death toll has so far risen to 1,200, according to IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus.
The attack has since prompted Israel to declare war against the terrorist group with a ruthless aerial campaign that has flattened homes, schools, medical institutions, and government buildings in the Gaza Strip.
