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rashida tlaib
Lawmakers, Journalists Rip CBS News Over 'Insane, Blatantly Racist Headline' on Abdul El-Sayed
"The Bari Weiss project... is to revive post-9/11 Islamophobia in mainstream politics," said one critic.
Aug 31, 2026
Several Democratic lawmakers on Monday slammed CBS News for publishing a news analysis linking Democratic US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed to the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The CBS story claimed that El-Sayed "may be facing the risk of renewed scrutiny and fresh political attack" ahead of the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, which killed over 3,000 people in New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
The piece cited two deleted El-Sayed social media posts to make its case: One in which he called on Americans to unite in a common purpose to combat the Covid-19 pandemic just as they came together after the 2001 attacks, and another where he drew attention not just to the victims who died on 9/11, but to all the people who died afterward as a result of the US War on Terror.
El-Sayed defended the latter post in an interview with CBS News.
"My point is just to say that what happened on 9/11 is a disaster," El-Sayed said. "It was a terrible attack on our country and our responsibility is also to think about how do we build an America where we are protecting our servicemen and women from being asked to fight wars we have no business fighting that ultimately end up doing harm to people. And we're seeing that right now."
Critics slammed the CBS analysis, which they said unfairly tarred El-Sayed—a Muslim and son of Egyptian immigrants who has repeatedly faced Islamophobic and racist attacks—as a terrorist sympathizer even as he has consistently denounced the 9/11 attacks.
"What an insane, blatantly racist headline," wrote Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) in a social media post. "Unreal."
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) also slammed the CBS story as "racist," adding that "targeting Abdul like this is intentional and coordinated."
The Nation's Jeet Heer argued that the CBS News piece reflected the change in management the network has undergone ever since owner David Ellison put Bari Weiss in charge of it.
"To be clear the Bari Weiss project... is to revive post-9/11 Islamophobia in mainstream politics," wrote Heer. "These are profoundly illiberal people, who should be combated not just by the left and progressives but anyone committed to civil equality."
Responding to the network's post promoting the article on the platform X, Zeteo editor-in-chief Mehdi Hasan asked CBS News if it ever considered that "it's super offensive and disgusting and Islamophobic to do a tweet about the potential first-ever Muslim Democratic senator which begins by referencing 9/11?"
Adam Johnson, host of the Citations Needed podcast, highlighted the El-Sayed social media posts flagged by CBS and argued that the network is trying "to scandalize perfectly sensible and humane comments."
Progressive commentator Wajahat Ali said that he's seen a lot of mainstream media articles attacking El-Sayed, but concluded that "this one takes the cake for being so exquisitely racist."
According to Zeteo media columnist Justin Baragona, one anonymous CBS News staffer is also raising concerns about the El-Sayed story, which they called "trash" and "horribly Islamophobic."
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Dozens of US Lawmakers, Groups Demand Rubio Secure Release of Sama Safi From Israeli Detention
Members of Congress urged the US secretary of state "to act swiftly and use every tool at your disposal" to ensure the 20-year-old is freed.
Aug 25, 2026
Dozens of US lawmakers came together on Tuesday to demand the immediate release of Sama Safi, a 20-year-old American psychology student with "a severe complex chronic health condition" who was "arbitrarily and wrongfully detained" by the Israeli military nearly three months ago.
Safi was abducted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on June 2 as "part of a series of raids targeting Birzeit University students that morning that wrongfully detained three other young women: Natalie Abu Diah, Leila Khalil, and Joulan Abu Awad," the members of Congress wrote to President Donald Trump's top diplomat. "This targeting of Palestinian students is not an isolated incident but part of what United Nations human rights experts have called a systematic policy to 'undermine the right to education.'"
Since the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, the US-armed IDF has engaged in a military campaign in the Gaza Strip widely decried as genocide—killing over 73,000 people and damaging most civilian infrastructure, including schools—while Israeli troops and settlers have also ramped up violence against Palestinians in the illegally occupied West Bank.
Safi has been charged with being a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which Israel labels a "terrorist organization." Her lawyer, Leah Tsemel, told Agence France-Presse that she denies the allegation.
The young US citizen has familial Mediterranean fever, "which requires regular monitoring, daily medication, and recurring specialized biologic treatment abroad," the only Palestinian American in Congress, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and 40 of her colleagues from both chambers highlighted in their letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
"Sama's medical condition has rapidly deteriorated after being subjected to abysmal detention conditions in the months since armed Israeli soldiers raided her family's home in the occupied West Bank in the middle of the night and tore her from her family," they wrote. "Her doctors have warned of irreversible and life-threatening damage to her internal organs if her detention continues. You have a duty to secure the safety and security of US citizens abroad, and we urge you to act quickly to prevent further irreparable harm to Sama by securing her immediate release."
Over the past few months, Safi "has been transferred through multiple facilities," the letter details. She has seen and endured "serious physical violence by guards against detainees, including frequent physical assault, shackling, and the throwing of gas and stun grenades into already overcrowded and poorly ventilated cells," along with "repeated verbal abuse and being placed in painful stress positions, as well as the presence of rapidly spreading infectious skin disease, rats, and mattresses reeking of feces."
"These inhumane conditions and violence towards detainees are not unique to one facility. They are systemic and well-documented throughout Israel's vast military prison system, where thousands of Palestinians are held every day, many indefinitely and without charge," the letter stresses. "In December, the United Nations Committee Against Torture denounced Israel’s application of 'a de facto state policy of organized and widespread torture and ill-treatment' in these prisons, including evidence of sexual violence, electrocution, waterboarding, systemic denial of medical care, denial of adequate nutrition and water, and deprivation of clothing, sleep, and access to hygiene facilities."
The six senators and 35 members of the House of Representatives are backed by a diverse coalition of 85 organizations, and they pointed out that earlier this month, over 100 groups also called on Rubio to find a way to free Safi from Israeli detention.
"It is your responsibility to ensure the safety of all Americans abroad, with no exceptions," the lawmakers reminded Rubio. "Her life
is at risk on your watch. We urge you to act swiftly and use every tool at your disposal to secure the immediate release of Sama Safi so that she can receive the medical care she urgently needs and return to her family, her studies, and the life and freedom that every 20-year-old deserves."
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Tlaib and Faith Leaders Decry Anti-Muslim 'Crusade' in Dearborn, Michigan Led by Capitol Insurrectionist
"Our families do not deserve to be subjected to such hate and bigotry," said Tlaib before thousands of self-described "Christian crusaders" descended upon the majority-Muslim city.
Aug 18, 2026
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, clergy of various faiths, and state and local Democratic officials are among those condemning Tuesday's far-right rally in Dearborn, Michigan as an intimidation campaign against the city’s Muslim community, and warning that the so-called “Christian Crusader March” is part of a broader resurgence of Islamophobic bigotry during President Donald Trump’s second term.
Thousands of anti-Muslim demonstrators, many of them traveling on motorcycles, descended upon Dearborn, a majority-Muslim suburb of Detroit, for the rally organized by racist provocateur Jake Lang and Detroit pastor Lorenzo Sewell. Video footage showed an overwhelmingly male crowd marching aggressively on Dearborn's City Hall Complex.
Area residents also marched, with a large crowd chanting "Allahu akbar"—meaning "God is great" in Arabic—while chasing some of the outsiders down a street.
A protest to showcase the Islamic takeover of Michigan has formed outside the Henry Ford Centennial Library in Dearborn. Videos of Antifa armed with AR15s are circulating, with one leftist being arrested for apparently pointing his gun at a protestor.pic.twitter.com/OdNbKXQmq8
— Dennis Michael Lynch (@TrustDML) August 18, 2026
Tlaib (D-Mich.), whose district includes Dearborn and who is the only Palestinian American in Congress, warned Tuesday that the city of approximately 105,000 residents "is being targeted by Islamophobic white supremacists and Christian nationalists."
“Islamophobic racists are yet again marching in Dearborn to terrorize a whole faith community," Tlaib said in a statement. "Dearborn is a beautifully diverse place, home to a vibrant, loving Muslim community, and our families do not deserve to be subjected to such hate and bigotry."
"Families are told to stay home for their own safety, unable to go back-to-school shopping, get groceries, or even walk outside," she continued. "To all our Dearborn families and residents: I have your back. I wish I could take away this pain, but know that you are not alone."
"To our interfaith community that’s standing in solidarity with their Muslim neighbors: Thank you for speaking out against this hatred. We need more of this love and compassion," she said.
“More leaders, including local elected officials, must speak out, especially against the local instigators participating in the spread of hatred under the guise of faith," Tlaib continued. "Their silence is complacent and normalizes fearmongering and racism. We know that targeting any community doesn’t allow any of us to be safe."
"People of all faiths and of all backgrounds belong," she added, "and deserve to practice their religion and celebrate their cultures freely without fear.”
Christian leaders joined Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud and Police Chief Issa Shahin for a press conference earlier to denounce the rally, emphasizing that the Islamophobes' “crusader” rhetoric does not represent Christianity.
"To my residents, keep being you," Hammoud said on social media. "Pray how you’ve always prayed. Keep providing for your families and showing up for your neighbors. We won’t let hate unravel this beautiful tapestry forged throughout generations, with countless hands, in the most noble of American traditions."
Rev. Bob McCabe, pastor of the Church of the Divine Child, said during the press conference that "Dearborn is a place where people can love and draw close to each other and to worship freely. I've experienced that as a Christian, as a Catholic."
Pastor Nathan Hayes of Solid Rock Church told viewers that "I'm asking that our community would come together and say, you know what, ignore the outside voices and just pay attention to the person who lives next to you because they care about you way more than these people who are driving in from other places."
The Dearborn rally comes amid mounting renewed anti-Muslim hostility nationwide. The Associated Press reported last week that anti-Muslim rhetoric has surged alongside the historic US Senate campaign of Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, the first Muslim nominated by a major party for one of the state's upper chamber seats. Trump and other Republican figures have portrayed Muslim public officials as national security threats, while anti-mosque campaigns have intensified in communities across the country.
The consequences are not merely rhetorical.
In May, a pair of teenagers opened fire at an Islamic center in San Diego, killing three people and further traumatizing a Muslim community already facing heightened threats.
In July, federal prosecutors charged Utah man Peter Larsen with a hate crime after alleging that he went to a shopping mall seeking Muslims to attack. Prosecutors say he asked employees whether they were Muslim before stabbing a Muslim man multiple times, including in the neck. The victim required several surgeries.
Lang served four years behind bars awaiting trial for alleged crimes, including attacking police officers with a baseball bat during the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election. He was one of roughly 1,500 January 6 insurrectionists later pardoned by Trump.
He doesn't only hate Muslims; despite being raised Jewish, Lang is rabidly antisemitic and also said that white people "will be replaced, and your children will be Black Muslims if you don't stand up now"—and worse.
Lang was allowed to speak during Tuesday's Dearborn City Council meeting.
"For three years straight, the number one name in the country of England for newborn babies is Muhammad," he said, beginning a nearly four-minute tirade that was equal parts Muslim hate and pure fantasy.
🚨 Jake Lang addresses the Dearborn, Michigan City Council. 🇺🇸 MIGA pic.twitter.com/WRRgQJElnt
— Chad Ledger (@TheChadLedger) August 18, 2026
"Tell me that white Christians are not being invaded," he continued. "This is an invasion!"
"These people are trying to destroy us," Lang argued without any evidence. The Muslims have not come here to assimilate. They have come here to steal the wealth of this land, to rape our women."
"The Muslims are being used by the Democrats to instill socialism in America," he asserted. "We know it."
"You're just using the Democrats, these woke liberal idiots, the women in New York, to gain power, and once the Muslims have power in this country, then they will start throwing the homosexuals off the roofs, just like they do in Palestine," he falsely claimed.
"Our founding fathers gave this country to their posterity, white Christians, and they brought along with them their Black friends," Lang said, apparently referring to the Africans they enslaved. "We will not allow these Third World mongrels to run roughshod over us without a fight. The body of Christ is one!"
"We have cruise ships, we have planes, we have trains, and we're going to pack them out with all of the Arabs. You have to go home. We don't want you here," Lang continued.
"If you stand against Islam, you are my brother. If you are willing to stand up and take this country back, you are my brother. Join the crusades and extricate this filth from our country," he concluded. "We will have our way! Come blood or sweat, we will have our way! This is a Christian land! Christ is king!"
Lang then began tearing up a Quran before being forcibly removed from the council chamber.
Some Democratic social media users—including many backing former Vice President Kamala Harris, whose complicity in Israel's Gaza genocide is part of why she was narrowly defeated by Trump in Dearborn in the 2024 presidential election just four years after former President Joe Biden won the city by 20 points—said the city's residents deserve what is happening to them.
However, elected Democrats—who have often been slow to condemn anti-Muslim bigotry—were quick to condemn the rally.
"The people of Dearborn are once again under attack from an out-of-state influencer looking for controversy," US Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) said on social media. "[Mayor Hammoud], the police chief, and religious leaders of all faiths are again showing leadership and demonstrating that Michigan is united against hate and Islamophobia."
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement that "Dearborn is home to one of the most vibrant communities in America."
"Its residents are our friends and our neighbors," the Democrat continued. "Today, a group of agitators is traveling to Dearborn for the sole purpose of intimidating that community and provoking a reaction. Their plan emboldens and contributes to dangerous behavior, and I am asking every person of goodwill to denounce it. Their hate has no place in Michigan."
“My top priority is keeping Michiganders safe," Whitmer added I’ve been in contact with Mayor Hammoud, and I echo Chief Shahin and local officials: Do not confront or engage with demonstrators. Together, we stand united against hate in all its forms.”
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22 Democrats Join GOP to Block Lebanon War Powers Resolution, Enabling Netanyahu's Sabotage of US-Iran Ceasefire
"The United States is not a bystander to these war crimes. It's an active participant," said the resolutions sponsor Rep. Rashida Tlaib.
Jun 30, 2026
Nearly two dozen Democrats joined almost every Republican on Tuesday to vote down a war powers resolution that would have halted US military participation in Israel's assault on Lebanon, which is threatening to derail President Donald Trump's peace negotiations with Iran.
"More than 1.3 million people have already been forced to leave their homes or be killed, with the Israeli military telling them they will not be allowed to return," said the resolution's sponsor, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), on the House floor Tuesday. "Eighty-one Lebanese neighborhoods have been violently depopulated and demolished—erased from the map entirely."
Along with Republican Reps. Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Lauren Boebert (Colo.), the resolution received support from 187 Democrats on Tuesday, more than double the number who supported a similar resolution introduced by Tlaib earlier this month.
Despite top House Democrats, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY) and Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gregory Meeks (NY), giving rhetorical backing to the resolution this time around, The Intercept reported that they did not formally whip the vote.
Twenty-two Democratic hawks joined the GOP to vote against ending cooperation with Israel's war, which has killed more than 4,000 people since March.
Among them were a clique of Democrats who have signed on to the centrist "Promise to America" aimed at countering the momentum of progressive and democratic socialist candidates within the party—including Reps. Donald Davis (NC), Laura Gillen (NY), Vicente Gonzalez (Texas), Josh Gottheimer (NJ), Adam Gray (Calif.), Susie Lee (Nev.), and Tom Suozzi (NY).
Others include favorites of the America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), including Reps. George Latimer (NY), Henry Cuellar (Texas), Jared Golden (Maine), and Brad Schneider (Ill.), who have each received over a million dollars from it and other pro-Israel lobbying groups over their careers, according to FEC reports reviewed by Track AIPAC.
Other Democratic opponents include Reps. Steny Hoyer (Md.), Greg Landsman (Ohio), Jared Moskowitz (Fla.), Donald Norcross (NJ), Jimmy Panetta (Calif.), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.), Brad Sherman (Calif.), Darren Soto (Fla.), Norma Torres (Calif.), Juan Vargas (Calif.), and Marc Veasey (Texas), many of whom have also received extensive support from the lobby.
As voting began on Tuesday afternoon, Lebanese-American journalist Rania Khalek said that "how people vote on this is a big indicator of who is bought and paid for by the war machine and Israel lobby."
In a comment to Axios, the staunch pro-Israel centrist Golden justified his vote against the measure by claiming that "to the best of my knowledge, we're not engaged in a conflict with Lebanon."
Latimer made a similar statement on social media, claiming that the resolution was only good for "messaging" since the US did not have any active troops in Lebanon.
But Tlaib argued on the House floor that "the United States is not a bystander to these war crimes. It's an active participant."
"The United States is currently engaged in illegal and unauthorized hostilities supporting the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in violation of the War Powers Act," she said. "The Trump administration is providing intelligence, coordinating strikes, demonstrating overt command over the Israeli military decisions, including greenlighting specific Israeli attacks and operations."
Other supporters of the resolution emphasized that ending Israel's occupation of Lebanon is a precondition for ending Trump's war with Iran.
"Ending Israeli military action in Lebanon is a key part of ensuring that the negotiation process with Iran continues and peace prevails in the Middle East," said Rep. Betty McCullom (D-Minn.).
The memorandum of understanding signed by the US and Iran earlier this month states that, for peace to be achieved, it must be implemented on "all fronts," including in Lebanon.
Iranian negotiators have repeatedly emphasized that they will not allow Trump to pull back from the war he's desperate to end unless Israel fully withdraws troops from Lebanon, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has emphatically refused to do.
Janet Abou-Elias, a researcher at the Democratizing Foreign Policy Project at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, told Common Dreams earlier this month that without US military participation, Israel could likely continue its occupation “only for a limited period of time."
Just Foreign Policy, an anti-war group that has agitated for the passage of Tlaib's war powers resolution, lambasted the 22 Democrats who voted against it.
"These 22 fringe House Democratic hawks revealed today that they don't actually want the Iran War to end," the group wrote in a post to social media. "By failing to end US participation in the Israeli war in Lebanon, they are undermining a peace deal."
Noting that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused oil prices to spike and inflation to ripple across the economy, the group said these Democrats were "keeping prices high for Americans."
Just Foreign Policy's executive director Erik Sperling told The Intercept that although the resolution did not pass, the vote signaled that things were moving in the right direction.
“Democrats have been pretty unified about speaking out against the killing of innocents and all of the harm by the Iran War, but there has been less vocal outrage about the mass killing and occupation in Lebanon,” Sperling said. “This is just an important signal that Democrats are aware of the way the Lebanon war is a humanitarian crisis and is the key roadblock to ending this war and delivering the peace that Americans are demanding.”
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Congress to Vote on New Lebanon War Powers Resolution as Israel's Occupation Threatens to Blow Up Iran-US Peace Deal
"This vote is effectively a proxy vote on the Iran deal," an anti-war activist told Common Dreams. "Members who vote no are functionally prioritizing continued Israeli operations in Lebanon over the prospects of a deal."
Jun 29, 2026
As Israel's continued assault on Lebanon threatens to derail peace negotiations between the Trump administration and Iran, the US House of Representatives is expected to hold another vote on Tuesday on a war powers resolution that could halt American support for Israel's attacks.
H.Con.Res. 108, introduced in early June by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), would direct President Donald Trump to halt US military involvement in "hostilities" connected to Israel's attacks on Lebanon, which have killed more than 4,000 people and led to the forced displacement of more than 1.2 million residents.
It is the second such resolution to be put to a vote in the House this month. H.Con.Res. 84, also introduced by Tlaib, was shot down after Democratic leadership declined to endorse it—since it did not include a carve-out allowing the US to continue coordinating actions against Hezbollah with the Lebanese military—but still received support from 91 Democrats, plus Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.).
The new resolution, which has the support of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), is expected to fare even better. The anti-war group Just Foreign Policy told Common Dreams that between 160 and 210 Democrats could now vote in favor of the measure.
Even in the best-case scenario, this would still require at least seven GOP defectors in addition to Massie. But Erik Sperling, Just Foreign Policy's executive director, said the fact that the vote was happening at all was still tremendously significant.
"This is only the second vote [to halt US military action in] Lebanon on the floor of Congress in history," he said. "It was already one of the most significant things imaginable that we'd even have a vote on it, much less have two in a month."
Adding to the significance is the fact that Israel's actions in Lebanon have become the primary obstacle to Trump's efforts to end the war in Iran.
The memorandum of understanding signed earlier this month calls for a halt to military operations "on all fronts," including Lebanon, and the Iranian delegation has repeatedly insisted that there is no deal without an Israeli withdrawal.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubled down on his defiance of the agreement, stating that Israel would not withdraw "as long as I am prime minister." Defense Minister Israel Katz added there had been "no American demand for Israel to withdraw."
This is despite Trump's public and private fuming at Israel for derailing his desperate efforts to back out of the conflict, which is deathly unpopular among the American public and which he has warned will cause "global economic catastrophe" if allowed to drag on much longer.
Israel and Lebanon agreed to another US-brokered framework on Friday that is supposed to set up a path for the Lebanese army to take over so-called "pilot zones" in southern Lebanon that are currently controlled by Israel. But in order for Israel to fully withdraw, it has demanded that Hezbollah fully disarm, which the group has said it will not do.
On the ground, there is little sign the deal is being implemented. Since Friday, Israel has conducted several strikes both inside the occupation zone and outside of it against what it said were Hezbollah militants.
While members of House Democratic leadership have said that the US is "not currently engaged in hostilities in Lebanon," supporters of Tlaib's measure have noted that even without boots on the ground, the US is intimately involved in Israel's attacks. Trump has reportedly given a "green light" to multiple operations, and Israel has extensively relied on US intelligence.
Janet Abou-Elias, a researcher at the Democratizing Foreign Policy Project at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, told Common Dreams earlier this month that ending US coordination with Israel would significantly hamper its ability to continue its occupation of Lebanon.
With Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei reiterating on Monday that an end to Israel's occupation of Lebanon was an “essential prerequisite” for an end to the war with the US, the anti-war coalition on Capitol Hill has said the urgency of passing Tlaib's resolution is only continuing to grow.
"This vote is effectively a proxy vote on the Iran deal," Sperling said. "Any member who genuinely wants a negotiated end to the Iran conflict should be voting yes. Members who vote no are functionally prioritizing continued Israeli operations in Lebanon over the prospects of a deal."
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Summer Lee Condemns Democrats' Silence After Anti-Muslim Attacks on Tlaib, Hamawy
"The silence from Democrats when Muslim colleagues and candidates are attacked is a cancerous rot."
Jun 05, 2026
Congresswoman Summer Lee spoke at length Thursday evening about recent anti-Muslim attacks that have been launched by Republicans as well as the corporate media against two progressive political leaders—reserving much of her condemnation for Democratic lawmakers who have remained silent as Rep. Rashida Tlaib and US House candidate Adam Hamawy have been both directly and indirectly accused of "terrorism" in recent days.
"Democrats, we are way too quiet right now," said Lee (D-Pa.) in a three-minute video she posted on her official social media accounts. "This is a moral rot that we are dealing with, and I hope that we will not stand by and let this particular hatred grow and grow until it's out of our control."
Lee spoke up a day after Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) openly accused Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American member of Congress, of advocating "for terrorists on a daily basis" during a debate on a proposal she introduced to block US forces from taking part in Israel's invasion of Lebanon—a war powers resolution that ultimately failed to pass Thursday after House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and more than 100 other Democrats joined the GOP in opposing it.
More than 3,500 Lebanese people have been killed and 1.2 million have been forcibly displaced since Israel began attacking Lebanon in March, in what it says is an effort to defeat Hezbollah. Israeli officials have said they are using the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) decimation of Gaza as a "model" in Lebanon.
While Tlaib advocated on the House floor for Lebanese civilians, Miller characterized Hezbollah as “butchers that you like to hang out with to a certain extent,” addressing the progressive congresswoman—prompting her to demand that Miller's comments be stricken from the record and accusing him of a "direct attack on my character."
Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), who volunteered to serve in the IDF in 2015, also said supporters of Tlaib's resolution were acting as "proxies for Hezbollah."
In her statement Thursday, Lee said, "Yesterday on the House floor, two different Republicans basically called my sister Rashida a terrorist for nothing more than being there, being Palestinian, being Muslim, being a woman."
She emphasized that the attacks on Tlaib followed similar remarks about congressional candidate Dr. Adam Hamawy, a retired US Army surgeon who volunteered to treat victims of Israel's assault on Gaza and saved the life of Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) after her helicopter was shot down in Iraq in 2004.
Before voters in New Jersey's 12th Congressional District went to the polls this week to vote in the primary the progressive Democrat won, opponents attacked him for his former association with Omar Abdel-Rahman, a cleric who was convicted of terrorism in 1995 and whom Hamawy said he met through the Egyptian-American community in New Jersey.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) said Hamawy was "not in line with our values," and The New York Times focused its subheadline on Abdel-Rahman in its report on Hamawy's primary victory, before editing the subhead.
"The anti-Muslim rhetoric is picking up," said Lee on Thursday. "And we don't often talk about how dangerous that is, and we also don't talk about how dangerous it is to our coalition. As the Democratic Party, we are supposed to be the ones that are the standard-setters, the ones who are fighting for justice and equal opportunity and liberation, and if we aren't able to speak up against this right now, then how can we continue to hold that particular mantle?"
"It's not just Republicans who are dealing in this," she added. "I've heard Democrats use and deal in some of the worst tropes and stereotypes of my Muslim colleagues."
Lee was applauded for speaking out about attacks that Democratic leaders had not directly addressed—and that Jeffries was accused of amplifying recently when he said he planned to speak to Hamawy about "his past affiliations."
"Incredibly brave stuff for Summer to explicitly name and condemn Democratic Islamophobia and do so on broad terms," said organizer and writer Cole Sandick. "I hope more elected progressives follow her lead."
Lee emphasized that "no marginalized person should have to deal with the abuse that they are dealing with daily from the White House on down, by themselves."
"So I just really hope that we can be as clear about anti-Muslim hate as we are about all the other forms of hatred that we're fighting back right now," she added, "and recognize that our liberation is tied together."
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‘The People of Lebanon Can’t Wait,’ Says Tlaib After Dem Leaders Join With GOP to Vote Down War Powers Resolutions
"Every day that we do nothing, 11 more Lebanese children are killed or injured by the Israeli military in this US-supported invasion."
Jun 04, 2026
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries helped Republicans tank Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s war powers resolution to limit US military involvement in Lebanon on Thursday, holding up the effort to curb the conflict for at least another several weeks.
Despite Israel’s invasion of Lebanon pushing deeper, with more than 3,500 people killed and 1.2 million displaced since early March, the Michigan Democrat's resolution was defeated in a 324-92 vote, with a large number in her own party joining Jeffries (D-NY) and the Republican majority against it.
In a joint statement shortly ahead of the vote on Tlaib's resolution, House Minority Leader Jeffries of New York, along with Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), said: “We stand with the Lebanese people, the government of Lebanon, and the Lebanese Armed Forces in their efforts to live peacefully and defeat Hezbollah." The statement included no mention of Israel.
The lawmakers said they’d support a different resolution introduced by Tlaib on Wednesday, which was crafted in tandem with Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
That resolution likewise required President Donald Trump to remove US forces “from any hostilities in Lebanon” within seven days of passage. But it also added the caveat that it could not be construed to "prevent or limit security cooperation with the Lebanese Armed Forces."
Jeffries, Clark, and Aguilar said, "There are no US servicemembers involved in combat operations or hostilities in Lebanon."
However, supporters of Tlaib's original measure have noted that the US military is heavily involved in Israel's actions in the country without having boots on the ground.
"The US is actively cooperating with Israel on coordinating strikes, intelligence sharing, and planning, including Trump green-lighting major attacks on Lebanon multiple times," Janet Abou-Elias, a researcher at the Democratizing Foreign Policy Project at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, told Common Dreams.
While the resolution's passage wouldn't "end US involvement overnight," she said, "it fundamentally changes the landscape of accountability" by giving opponents of US collaboration a legal mechanism to conduct oversight.
And while the resolution would not cut off US military aid to Israel, Abou-Elias said Israel could continue its occupation "only for a limited period of time" without US assistance.
"Israel would be absorbing losses while also draining its broader manpower and firepower reserves," she said. "At some point, the cost-benefit of continuing their occupation without US support would shift."
Because war powers resolutions are privileged, they can be forced to a vote even without approval from the Republican majority.
However, committees are given 15 days to act before a resolution is forced onto the floor, followed by three days for a House vote. This means it could take until June 21 for the new version to pass. The Senate would also have to pass it, and it would then take another week to go into effect.
"The people of Lebanon can't wait another month for Congress to act," Tlaib said on social media following news that the proposal would be voted down. "Every day that we do nothing, 11 more Lebanese children are killed or injured by the Israeli military in this US-supported invasion. Congress must pass today's Lebanon war powers resolution."
Abou-Elias said that despite the setback, Tlaib's introduction of the measure was not a wasted effort.
"Even if the resolution doesn't pass today, the vote forces every representative on record on the US participation in the attacks on Lebanon," she said. "That alone has value."
Though resolution failed, proponents of the measure championed the 92 lawmakers who did vote in favor.
“Congress’s failure to act has thus far enabled multiple Israeli invasions of Lebanon and war crimes against Lebanese civilians,” said Beth Miller, political director of Jewish Voice for Peace Action, in a statement. “Tonight’s vote demonstrated that a growing block of members of Congress are beginning to listen to their constituents. Americans don’t want the US involved in atrocities against Lebanese, Palestinians, Iranians, or anyone. This vote is just the beginning, and we will continue to organize until all of Congress acts to end these atrocities.”
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'This Must Stop': Call Grows for US Lawmakers to Pass Lebanon War Powers Resolution
A coalition of anti-war groups said Rep. Rashida Tlaib's resolution "is the only legislative tool that can force a vote and thus every member of Congress to take a position about this war on the record."
Jun 01, 2026
As Israel's deepening invasion of Lebanon threatens to derail peace talks between the US and Iran, American lawmakers are facing pressure to pass a war powers resolution to limit US involvement this week.
In recent days, despite a ceasefire agreement in April, Israel has ordered the forced evacuation of hundreds of thousands more Lebanese civilians from their homes in the country's south, and declared all areas south of the Zahrani River a combat zone.
In what Defense Minister Israel Katz has described as a continuation of its "Gaza model," the Israel Defense Forces have systematically razed dozens of villages across southern Lebanon.
US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who introduced the war powers resolution in April, said, "This must stop."
"Our country should not be assisting or supporting indiscriminate bombings and forced displacement anywhere, including Lebanon," Tlaib said on social media Monday, responding to a report that the death toll had climbed above 3,400 since Israel launched its assault on Lebanon in March. "We must pass the Lebanon war powers resolution this week."
The brief resolution would require the US to end unauthorized military cooperation with Israel within seven days of being passed, which proponents said may also limit the ability of the US military to share intelligence and coordinate targets with Israel.
Tlaib and other progressives like Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) initially pushed for the resolution to be brought to a House vote during the week of May 18, but it was kicked until after lawmakers returned from recess.
In the meantime, several cosponsors have signed onto the resolution, bringing the total up to 17. They include Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar (D-Texas) and Rep. André Carson (D-Ind.), who serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
War powers votes can be introduced by any member of Congress and do not need the support of the Republican Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson (La.).
A coalition of anti-war groups led by Just Foreign Policy organized a letter-writing campaign to tell members of Congress to support the resolution. The groups say supporters have sent nearly 24,000 letters to Congress so far.
"Israel's invasion of Lebanon has killed more than 3,000 people since March 2nd, displaced over 1.2 million—a fifth of the country's entire population—and caused over $14 billion in destruction. Hospitals bombed. Entire villages erased," they said. "Rashida Tlaib’s resolution... is the only legislative tool that can force a vote and thus every member of Congress to take a position about this war on the record."
Spokespeople for the Democrats on the House Foreign Relations Committee did not respond when asked by Common Dreams whether members planned on supporting Tlaib's resolution.
Israel has been accused of ramping up its attacks on Lebanon as a means of sabotaging peace talks between the US and Iran. Abbas Araghchi, Iran's foreign minister, wrote on social media Monday that “the ceasefire between Iran and the US is unequivocally a ceasefire on all fronts, including in Lebanon."
It was reported by Iran's Tasnim News Agency on Monday that Tehran was backing away from talks with President Donald Trump in response to Israel's escalation in Lebanon. The country's foreign ministry said the US “bears direct responsibility both for the violations of the ceasefire against Iran and for the violations committed by the Zionist regime against Lebanon.”
However, after phone calls with a Hezbollah intermediary and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said on Truth Social that “talks were continuing at a rapid pace,” and “there will be no Troops going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on their way have already been turned back.”
Netanyahu responded to the reports by saying that he planned to launch more attacks against Lebanon's densely populated capital if Hezbollah did not stop attacking Israel, and that Israel would "continue operating in southern Lebanon as planned."
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Tlaib Leads Dems Decrying Trump Admin Failure to Protect US Citizens Abducted From Gaza Flotilla
Israeli forces intercepted and detained at least 175 people off the coast of Greece, including 14 Americans, some of whom reportedly suffered broken bones and other injuries.
May 05, 2026
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and 18 other House Democrats on Tuesday condemned the US State Department's failure to protect 14 Americans aboard the latest humanitarian aid convoy seized by Israeli forces en route to Gaza, as well as the agency's threat to punish US participants in the flotilla.
"On Wednesday April 29, 2026, Israeli military forces illegally intercepted and attacked nearly two dozen civilian vessels in international waters and abducted at least 175 unarmed humanitarians, journalists, and solidarity activists taking part in the Global Sumud Flotilla, a brave effort to end the Israeli government's ongoing starvation blockade of Gaza and deliver essential food and medical aid, establish a humanitarian corridor, and save lives," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
"This attack on a civilian humanitarian mission involving participants from over 55 countries, including the United States, conducted an unprecedented 600 miles into international waters, is a grave violation of international law," the letter states. "It demands action and accountability from the United States to protect abducted US citizens, to allow the free flow of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza enduring forced starvation, and an end to the decades of impunity that enable these crimes."
The lawmakers continued:
We are outraged that instead of speaking out and taking action to ensure the safety and immediate release of the at least 14 US citizens illegally abducted by the Israeli military, the Department of State went out of its way to issue a formal condemnation of their humanitarian efforts, smearing them with libelous falsehoods that expose them to greater danger and violence and threatening allied countries who allow port access to this humanitarian mission. This is an abdication of your duty to protect the safety of all Americans and is an Orwellian distortion where providing food to the hungry is terror and forced starvation is peace.
While we are relieved by reporting that most abducted flotilla passengers have now been released and will not be forced to suffer the abuse and inhumane conditions endured for days by participants of the previous flotilla illegally detained in Israeli prison, we are disturbed by reports that abductees were violently abused while held on Israeli vessels and that multiple US citizens have been hospitalized following their release. After all this, it is extremely alarming that US participants in the flotilla may face additional unjust persecution upon their return home.
Numerous people aboard the flotilla reported being brutally beaten by their captors, with some allegedly suffering broken ribs, noses, and other injuries, some of which reportedly required hospitalization.
Instead of assisting US victims, State Department spokesperson Thomas Piggott said his agency "will explore using available tools to impose consequences on those who provide support to this pro-Hamas flotilla."
The lawmakers' letter calls on Rubio and the Trump administration "to rescind these threats against flotilla participants, their supporters, and states that open their ports to this humanitarian mission and urge you to use your immense leverage to secure the freedom of all passengers who continue to be illegally detained."
"Above all else, we urge you to address the issue at the root of this voyage: the brutal Israeli blockade and genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza," the Democrats said.
"The ongoing forced starvation of the Palestinian population in Gaza is a direct result of the Israeli government’s siege and blockade of the territory, which continues to impede the entry of food and humanitarian aid in flagrant violation of legally binding orders from the International Court of Justice," they continued.
"Likewise, the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry has determined that the Israeli government is committing the crime of genocide in Gaza and that this blockade is deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of the Palestinian people in whole or in part," the letter notes.
"While the Trump administration fails to use its immense leverage to end this blockade and fulfill the United States’ binding legal obligations under the Genocide Convention, the activists on board the flotilla are an example of profound solidarity and humanitarianism," the lawmakers added. "Undeterred by this latest attack, additional flotilla ships continue their mission to deliver aid to Gaza. We call on you to deter any further hostile actions against the flotilla and ensure the successful completion of its humanitarian mission.”
Earlier Tuesday, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva condemned Israel’s twice-extended detention of two Global Sumud Flotilla members—Thiago Ávila of Brazil and Spanish-Swedish national Saif Abu Keshek—who Israeli authorities claim without providing evidence are linked to the Palestinian militant resistance group Hamas. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has also condemned the activists' abduction and demanded their release, as have numerous humanitarian groups and advocates around the world.
In addition to Tlaib—the only Palestinian American member of Congress—the letter was signed by Reps. Mark Pocan (Wis.), Delia Ramirez (Ill.), Ro Khanna (Calif.), Jesús "Chuy" García (Ill.), André Carson (Ind.), Jim McGovern (Mass.), Pramila Jayapal (Wash.), Greg Casar (Texas), Henry "Hank" Johnson (Ga.), Nydia Velásquez (NY), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), Maxine Dexter (Ore.), Summer Lee (Pa.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ), Al Green (Texas), Lateefah Simon (Calif.), and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY).
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Tlaib Leads Democrats in Demanding Permanent Ceasefire Deal That Includes Lebanon
"Netanyahu helped walk us into war, but he cannot keep us there," said US Rep. Debbie Dingell.
Apr 09, 2026
A group of Democrats in the US House of Representatives on Thursday demanded that any ceasefire deal to pause the war in Iran must force Israel to halt its operations in Lebanon, and called for the passage of a war powers resolution to help end the attacks.
Although the US, Iran, and Israel agreed to a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday, Israel has continued its bombing campaign in Lebanon, killing more than 250 people on Wednesday alone.
Iran has said it will not abide by a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the attacks on Lebanon stop, while Pakistan, which helped broker the ceasefire, has insisted that halting strikes on Lebanon has always been part of the agreement.
In a Thursday social media post, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) promoted a resolution she introduced in late March that called on the US to force Israel to stop its campaign in Lebanon, which has killed and wounded thousands of people while displacing more than 1 million more.
"I didn't wait for the genocidal regime of Israel to kill over 250 people in Lebanon yesterday to file resolutions to stop the US funding of these war crimes," wrote Tlaib. "So for colleagues speaking up now, welcome, but also don't just tweet, support the war powers resolution to save lives."
The call to include Lebanon in any ceasefire didn't just come from progressives like Tlaib, but from centrist members such as Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC), who recently defeated a progressive primary challenger who heavily criticized her past support from the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
"I am signing Rep. Tlaib's war powers resolution to stop all US military involvement in Israel’s hostilities in Lebanon," Foushee said. "The war in Lebanon has displaced nearly 1 million people and has claimed the lives of thousands. Our federal government must hold itself to higher humanitarian standards than participating in a war that is putting innocent people at risk."
Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) didn't explicitly endorse Tlaib's resolution, but affirmed that any ceasefire deal needed to curtail Israel's Lebanon campaign.
"This ceasefire must become a permanent peace. That means including Lebanon," wrote Dingell. "Netanyahu helped walk us into war, but he cannot keep us there."
Tlaib's resolution, which was introduced on March 27, calls for the US to force Israel to end its incursion and to withdraw its forces from Lebanese territory, while providing humanitarian aid and guaranteeing a right of return for all displaced Lebanese people.
Anti-war advocacy organization Just Foreign Policy encouraged Democratic leaders to get on board with Tlaib's resolution.
"Let's hope that leadership of House Democrats can support Rep. Tlaib's war powers resolution—without any delay!" the group wrote.
The group called on voters to demand that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking member Gregory Meeks (D-NY), and other leaders to "do so—and say they'll support the House floor vote—NOW!"
On Thursday, House Republicans blocked Democrats' efforts to force a vote on a war powers resolution that would halt Trump's Iran war, although the party is expected to try again next week when Congress is scheduled to return to Washington, DC.
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