Florida Commissioner: Rashida Tlaib Might ‘Blow Up’ Capitol Hill

Annabelle Lima-Taub Image by facebook
A Jewish commissioner from South Florida accused Representative Rashida Tlaib of being an anti-Semite who might “blow up Capitol Hill,” the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported.
Hallandale Beach Commissioner Annabelle Lima-Taub signed an online petition seeking to remove Tlaib, an American of Palestinian descent, from office five days after the Michigan congresswoman said she wanted to “impeach that motherf—ker,” referring to President Trump.
Lima-Taub posted the petition on her personal Facebook page.
“Proudly signed,” Lima-Taub wrote. “A Hamas-loving anti-Semite has NO place in government! She is a danger and [I] would not put it past her to become a martyr and blow up Capitol Hill.”
The post was removed Monday afternoon after the Sun Sentinel started asking questions.
Hallandale Commissioners Michele Lazarow and Mike Butler accused Lima-Taub of perpetuating a stereotype that all Muslims are terrorists, and Vice Mayor Sabrina Javellana described the accusation as “outrageous.” None, however, demanded an apology.
“To say [the Congresswoman] could blow up Capitol Hill is really inappropriate,” Javellana said. “Congressman Steve King from Iowa has openly embraced white supremacy and I don’t see anyone condemning him. Maybe she’s being targeted because she’s a woman and because she’s a Muslim.”
Tlaib spoke out against Lima-Taub’s comments on Tuesday, Huffpost reported, and blamed Trump for creating a racially hostile environment.
This sort of hateful anti-Muslim rhetoric doesn’t happen in a vacuum – this President embraced it and Republicans have happily gone along with it.https://t.co/3THoHQmRVy
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) January 15, 2019
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion My Jewish moms group ousted me because I work for J Street. Is this what communal life has come to?
- 2
News Student protesters being deported are not ‘martyrs and heroes,’ says former antisemitism envoy
- 3
Fast Forward Suspected arsonist intended to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a sledgehammer, investigators say
- 4
News Who is Alan Garber, the Jewish Harvard president who stood up to Trump over antisemitism?
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Dozens of members of UK’s largest Jewish group sign letter condemning war in Gaza
-
Culture Actor Ben Platt says his Jewish identity is ‘not defined’ by Israel, showing a gap between him and his influential family
-
Fast Forward Shapiro house fire suspect targeted Jewish governor over pro-Israel stances, search warrant says
-
Fast Forward Jewish family killed in New York plane crash
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.