Congressman Rashida Tlaib (Mich Dem) sent out Hanukah greetings to the Detroit chapter of IfNotNow, an anti-Israel Jewish group that has been widely censured by most Jewish organizations.  Tlaib praised the organization for “calling for every US official to commit to defunding the occupation in Falastine.”

Tlaib inaccurately refers to Israel as the “occupation”, though Judea and Samaria were illegally occupied by Jordan until 1967.  Her reference to “Falastine” is perplexing as there is no definition to be found for the word. There is no letter pronounced as ‘P’ in Arabic, and words containing the sound in other languages are usually pronounced with the soft ‘F’. It is to be assumed that Tlaib’s reference to ‘Falastine’ was actually intended to be a reference to ‘Palestine.’

It is interesting to note that the modern usage of the term  ‘philistine’ is a derogatory term meaning a person who is hostile or indifferent to culture and the arts, or who has no understanding of them.

Palestine has never referred to an independent sovereign national entity.  Since the British Mandate, the term “Palestine” has been associated with the geographical area that currently covers the State of Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Derived from the Hebrew word for ‘intruder’, the general use of the term “Palestine” or related terms to the area at the southeast corner of the Mediterranean Sea beside Syria has historically been taking place since the times of Ancient Greece. The Bible paints the Philistines as the main enemy of the Israelites with a state of almost perpetual war between the two.

Tlaib also praised the organization for fighting anti-Semitism and white nationalism. The praise seemed a bit ironic as just two weeks ago, Tlaib was the keynote speaker for the American Muslims for Palestine’s (AMP) 2020 election conference late last month in Chicago. A report from the Anti-Defamation League, a watchdog group that combats anti-Semitism, said the AMP promotes “extreme anti-Israel views” and provides “a platform for anti-Semitism.” 

Tlaib has been accused of making anti-Semitic comments in the past. In a Yahoo News Skullduggery podcast, Tlaib stated that she got a “calming feeling” when thinking about the Holocaust. In that podcast, she claimed that the Palestinians created a “safe haven” for the Jews. She was widely criticized since the Palestinian leaders of the time were closely allied with the Nazi Axis and supported the genocide of the Jews.