Republicans slam Rashida Tlaib after she said Palestinians gave ‘safe haven to Jews’ after Holocaust

Republican Party lawmakers on Sunday criticized Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib over comments she made about the Holocaust.

Tlaib, the first Palestinian-American woman to be elected to Congress, made the remarks during a discussion about Israel-Palestine on the Yahoo! News podcast Skullduggery.

‘There’s always kind of a calming feeling, I tell folks, when I think of the Holocaust, and the tragedy of the Holocaust, and the fact that it was my ancestors – Palestinians – who lost their land and some lost their lives, their livelihood, their human dignity, their existence in many ways, have been wiped out, and some people’s passports,’ Tlaib said during the podcast, which was posted on Friday.

‘And, just all of it was in the name of trying to create a safe haven for Jews, post-the Holocaust, post-the tragedy and the horrific persecution of Jews across the world at that time.

Liz Cheney (left), the congresswoman from Wisconsin and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, and Steve Scalise (right), the Republican congressman from Louisiana, condemned Tlaib’s remarks

 Cheney tweeted: ‘Surely now @SpeakerPelosi⁩ & ⁦@LeaderHoyer⁩ will finally take action against vile anti-Semitism in their ranks. This must cross the line, even for them.’

Congressman Lee Zeldin of Long Island said Tlaib has a ‘heart filled with darkness’

‘And, I love the fact that it was my ancestors that provided that, right, in many ways, but they did it in a way that took their human dignity away and it was forced on them.’

Liz Cheney, the congresswoman from Wisconsin and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, tweeted: ‘Surely now @SpeakerPelosi⁩ & ⁦@LeaderHoyer⁩ will finally take action against vile anti-Semitism in their ranks.

‘This must cross the line, even for them.

‘Rashida Tlaib says thinking of the Holocaust provides her a “calming feeling”.’

Lee Zeldin, the Republican congressman from Long Island, tweeted: ‘[Rashida Tlaib] says the Holocaust gives her “a calming feeling” calling for a 1 state solution putting Jews in the minority & out of power of their own country.

‘This is a heart filled w darkness & how the Holocaust began in 1st place.’

‘I understand Rashida Tlaib giving voice to Palestinians’ sense of loss,’ former U.S. ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro tweeted. ‘It’s her people and heritage. But she’s wrong about replacing Israel with 1 state, or the lack of legitimate Jewish historical ties&claims, or the strange idea that Pals welcomed Jews fleeing Europe for a haven.’

Journalist Seth Mandel tweeted: ‘Re: Tlaib’s revisionism, spent Shabbos reading a book on the era that’s *entirely* from the Palestinian perspective, and by the mid-1930s the consensus priority was stopping Jews fleeing Europe to Palestine. ‘When millions of dead Jews is your goal, don’t pat yourself on the back’

Hananya Naftali tweeted that Tlaib ‘is lying’ and that ‘Arabs in British Mandate Palestine didn’t help to save Jews – quite the opposite’. The tweet includes images of Adolf Hitler meeting with Palestinian Arab leader Hajj Amin al-Husseini

‘There is no justification for the twisted and disgusting comments made by Rashida Tlaib just days after the annual Day of Holocaust Remembrance,’ House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, the Republican from Louisiana, said in a statement.

‘More than six million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust; there is nothing “calming” about that fact.

‘Unfortunately, this is far from the first display of heinous anti-Semitic comments coming from Democrat House members this year, and it’s clear this is now the norm for their caucus.

‘It’s long past time for Speaker Pelosi to take swift action and make it clear that these vile comments have no place in Congress.’

While some seized on the ‘calming feeling’ quote, others criticized Tlaib for suggesting that the Arabs of Palestine provided safe haven to Europe’s Jews during the Nazi period.

‘I understand Rashida Tlaib giving voice to Palestinians’ sense of loss,’ former U.S. ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro tweeted.

‘It’s her people and heritage. But she’s wrong about replacing Israel with 1 state, or the lack of legitimate Jewish historical ties&claims, or the strange idea that Pals welcomed Jews fleeing Europe for a haven.’

Journalist Seth Mandel tweeted: ‘Re: Tlaib’s revisionism, spent Shabbos reading a book on the era that’s *entirely* from the Palestinian perspective, and by the mid-1930s the consensus priority was stopping Jews fleeing Europe to Palestine.

In response to the backlash, Tlaib, the Michigan representative, tweeted on Sunday: ‘Policing my words, twisting & turning them to ignite vile attacks on me will not work’

‘When millions of dead Jews is your goal, don’t pat yourself on the back.’

Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, tweeted: ‘Your words are both grossly anti-Semitic and ignorant. You should take some time to learn the history before trying to rewrite it.’

In response to the backlash, Tlaib, the Michigan representative, tweeted on Sunday: ‘Policing my words, twisting & turning them to ignite vile attacks on me will not work.

‘All of you who are trying to silence me will fail miserably.

‘I will never allow you to take my words out of context to push your racist and hateful agenda.

‘The truth will always win.’

Tlaib’s comments touched on the sensitive issue of the Holocaust-era immigration policies in British Mandatory Palestine.

During the late 1930s and early 1940s, as the Jews of Europe were looking to flee, the British authorities, under pressure from local Arabs, limited Jewish immigration to pre-state Israel.

The Palestinian leadership at the time was opposed to Jewish immigration for fear that it would weaken their standing once the British authorities left.

Tlaib’s critics point out that the most senior Palestinian leader at the time, Hajj Amin al-Husseini, the mufti of Jerusalem, famously met with Adolf Hitler and supported Nazi Germany

As the British Mandate was winding down, Israel’s creation in 1948 resulted in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs. The event is known as the ‘naqba,’ or catastrophe, in Arabic. Palestinian refugees are seen above during the 1948 war

The most senior Palestinian leader at the time, Hajj Amin al-Husseini, the mufti of Jerusalem, famously met with Adolf Hitler and supported Nazi Germany. 

The mufti also agitated violence against Jews as they were arriving in greater numbers in Palestine. 

The mufti backed the Germans because he viewed the British, who endorsed the idea of a Jewish national home in Palestine by way of the Balfour Declaration, as his main enemy. 

As the British Mandate was winding down, Israel’s creation in 1948 resulted in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs.

The event is known as the ‘naqba,’ or catastrophe, in Arabic.  

Palestinians say they want an independent state on land controlled by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War.