OPINION:
Last week, Democratic “Squad” member Rashida Tlaib, the Palestinian American congresswoman from Michigan, cast the lone “present” vote on a near-unanimous resolution that condemned Hamas’ use of rape as a weapon of war in its current clash with Israel in the Gaza Strip.
While speaking on the House floor, Ms. Tlaib said that the resolution was accurate regarding the crimes of Hamas but that she couldn’t support it because it didn’t also condemn Israel’s sexual violence. To be clear: Historically, there have been some one-off offenses by Israelis, but absolutely nothing compares to the mass atrocities committed against Israeli women and children by Hamas in its Oct. 7 rampage.
Earlier this month, Ms. Tlaib voted against legislation that barred Hamas members from entering the U.S., asserting that the measure was “inciting racism.” Last year, the House censured Ms. Tlaib for using the Palestinian slogan “From the river to the sea” — which specifically calls for the elimination of the Jewish state.
Other than being grossly antisemitic, why does this matter? Because over the weekend, Ms. Tlaib stood outside an early voting site in Dearborn, Michigan, and filmed herself urging Democrats to vote against President Biden in the state’s upcoming Democratic primary because of his support for Israel.
In 2020, Mr. Biden won Michigan by just 3 percentage points over Donald Trump, and it will be another hotly contested battleground in this year’s presidential election. In a Fox News poll released last week, Mr. Trump bests Mr. Biden 47% to 45% in a head-to-head rematch in the state.
Dearborn, a key Democratic stronghold, boasts a 54.5% Arab population. In 2021, Dearborn elected its first Arab American mayor, and the city is home to our nation’s only museum dedicated to the Arab American experience. It is also, according to a column in The Wall Street Journal, “America’s jihad capital.”
“Almost immediately after Oct. 7, and long before Israel began its ground offensive in Gaza, people were celebrating the horrific events of that day in pro-Hamas rallies and marches throughout Dearborn,” the Journal reported. “A local headline describing an Oct. 10 event at the Ford Performing Arts Center read, ‘Michigan rally cheers Hamas attack.’ Imam Imran Salha of Dearborn’s Islamic Center of Detroit told the crowd that Israel’s past actions have put ‘fire in our hearts that will burn that state’ — Israel — ’until its demise.’”
Yet Mr. Biden and his campaign are doing their very best to woo these terrorist defenders, convinced that voter turnout in Dearborn is essential to his reelection bid.
In January, Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez was sent to the city to meet with leaders from the Arab American community. The meeting was abruptly canceled, however, as the local leaders vowed to shun the campaign until Mr. Biden called on Israel for a cease-fire in Gaza.
In a second effort earlier this month, the White House dispatched top administration officials to Dearborn to mend fences.
State Rep. Abraham Aiyash, the second-ranking Democrat in the Michigan House, told The Associated Press the conversations were “intense” and “direct.”
“I relayed the emotions and the concerns of our community, and we gave them tangible steps,” Mr. Aiyash, who is also the state’s highest-ranking Arab or Muslim leader, told the AP. “We want to see a permanent cease-fire. We want to be able to see restrictions and conditions on any military aid that is sent to Israel. And we want to see the United States take a serious commitment towards rebuilding Gaza.”
Almost on cue, Mr. Biden’s “rock-solid and unwavering” support of Israel started to crumble.
In a news conference two weeks ago, Mr. Biden said Israel’s military response in Gaza was “over the top” — his sharpest criticism to date — and that he was seeking a temporary cease-fire.
That same week, Mr. Biden implored Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to proceed with a military operation in Rafah, the city in Gaza where Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar might be hiding, without a “credible and executable plan” for protecting and supporting the Palestinian civilians sheltering there.
Mr. Netanyahu has flatly rejected the notion.
“Those who say that under no circumstances should we enter Rafah are basically saying, ‘Lose the war. Keep Hamas there.’ And Hamas has promised to do the Oct. 7th massacre over and over and over again,” Mr. Netanyahu told ABC News.
Another noticeable shift of tone was a White House readout of Mr. Biden’s Feb. 15 call with Mr. Netanyahu. Nowhere in the readout were statements of the U.S.’s steadfast and undeterred support of Israel.
Instead, the White House summary reiterated Mr. Biden’s view that a military operation shouldn’t proceed in Rafah, his discussion on the urgency of providing humanitarian assistance in Gaza and his tireless work to “support the release of all hostages as soon as possible.”
The call completely undermined Israel and its efforts. Only three days earlier, Israeli forces freed two hostages via limited incursions into Rafah. Hostage talks also stalled that week because of demands by Hamas leaders that Israel release thousands of prisoners — many of whom have murdered Israelis — in return for the 134 hostages they hold. Israel said it’s ready to release three Palestinians for every Israeli hostage freed, but nothing more.
Frustrated that Israel is not listening to its demands, the Biden administration decided to lean on the U.N.
On Tuesday, after vetoing a separate cease-fire measure offered by Algeria, the Biden administration revealed it was preparing its own draft U.N. Security Council resolution that would call for a temporary cease-fire and, once again, pressure Israel not to invade Rafah.
For Mr. Biden’s campaign, kowtowing to radicals in Michigan is more important than providing unwavering support to our only democratic ally in the Middle East.
There’s an election to win, after all.
• Kelly Sadler is the commentary editor at The Washington Times.
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