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December 23, 2019 3:16 pm
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Anti-Israel Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib Mocked for Hanukkah Message

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US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) speaks at a rally calling on Congress to censure President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, April 30, 2019. Photo: Reuters / Aaron P. Bernstein.

Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib faced mockery and criticism on Twitter after she issued a Hanukkah message to a far-left Jewish anti-Zionist group.

In a message to If Not Now Detroit, Tlaib said, “Your 2020 platform calling for every public official to commit to defunding the occupation in falastin and fighting antisemitism and white nationalism is one that I can support very strongly.”

“Happy early Hanukkah and thank you from the bottom of my heart … also for my grandmother,” she added, speaking of her relative who lives in the West Bank.

Tlaib also published a generic greeting on her official Twitter account, saying, “#HappyHanukkah to all my Jewish friends and neighbors across #13thDistrictStrong and around the world. Wishing you light, love, and blessings as you celebrate the Festival of Lights.”

Many of those who responded to Tlaib found her comments ironic, as Hanukkah in fact celebrates the Jews regaining their independence and sovereignty over Judea, which Tlaib renamed “falastin.”

“This is gross, why can’t she just wish us happy Hanukkah?” said a video by the Israel Advocacy Movement. “Here she is hijacking a Jewish festival to attack Jews.”

“And here’s the irony of it all: Hanukkah actually celebrates Jews fighting off a foreign army that was occupying Judea,” the video added. “Rashida’s celebrating Jewish independence in Judea by describing the Jews that live there as occupiers.”

Public affairs and strategic consultant Lenny Ben-David tweeted, “Thank you Rep Tlaib. You may be aware that your grandmother lives in the Beit Ur village where the Jewish liberation battle by the Maccabees from Modiin/Beit Horon began in 167 BCE. Ground zero for the Jewish #Hanukkah holiday.”

Seth Mandel, editor of The Washington Examiner, expressed anger toward the congresswoman, tweeting, “At first I honestly couldn’t believe this was real. As horrible as Rashida Tlaib obviously is, could she possibly be this rotten, this bigoted?”

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