Rashida Tlaib said something extraordinary about Israel. Then Republicans perverted it.

On the smearing of the most prominent Palestinian-American in the country

Rashida Tlaib.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Alex Wong/Getty Images, PhuuchaayHYBRID/iStock, Aerial3/iStock)

Over the past two days, senior Republican leaders once again attacked a Democratic woman of color by taking remarks out of context and twisting their clear meaning beyond recognition. This week's victim of what now seems like a long-term GOP plan to fixate the fear and loathing of the party's elderly white supporters on these women was first-term Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and others accused of saying that the Holocaust gives her a "calming feeling" during a recent interview.

This latest episode is troublesome not just for the terrible-faith attacks leveled at Tlaib or the insistence on spreading misleading, viral ugliness even when you know perfectly well what you're doing — a practice not limited to the right but that is certainly dominated by it. The hysterical reaction to Tlaib's comments also highlights how the American right is in thrall to mythologies about the state of Israel that were debunked 30 years ago by Israel's own historians — bedtime stories that serve to absolve Israelis of any responsibility for the plight of the Palestinians and to excuse America's complicity.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
David Faris

David Faris is an associate professor of political science at Roosevelt University and the author of It's Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics. He is a frequent contributor to Informed Comment, and his work has appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times, The Christian Science Monitor, and Indy Week.