Days after the tragic events in Israel on Oct. 7, nine House Democrats voted against a resolution condemning Hamas and supporting Israel’s right to defend itself, including Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., Andre Carson, I-Ind., Summer Lee, D-Pa., Al Green, D-Texas, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Delia Ramirez, D–Ill. Reps. Cori Bush, D-Mo., and Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., both of whom lost their primary battles amid massive efforts from pro-Israel groups to have them removed, also voted against the measure.
Democratic lawmakers have also been unafraid to rub elbows with radical anti-Israel groups and their leaders that express support for Hamas.
For instance, Nihad Awad, executive director and co-founder of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said she was “happy to see” Hamas’s Oct. 7 invasion. Meanwhile, Tlaib had no qualms about being the keynote speaker for a CAIR hosted event in January, Lee engaged in fundraising alongside the group in March, and roughly a month after Hamas’s attack California Governor Gavin Newsom met with representatives from the group’s California chapter.
Tlaib was censured in November by her colleagues in the House of Representatives over her anti-Israel rhetoric, which included her use of the phrase, “From the river to the sea, Palestine