Marjorie Taylor Greene and Rashida Tlaib vote ‘present’ on resolution to condemn antisemitic attacks
A second antisemitism resolution expressing gratitude to ICE also passed, but with a smaller margin
Left: Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) speaks on Jan. 26, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images); Right: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), speaks in Maryland on March 3, 2023. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
(JTA) — No one voted against a resolution condemning the rise of hate crimes against Jews when it came to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday evening. But two congresswomen declined to vote yes.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat, each voted “present” on the resolution, introduced in the wake of attacks on Jewish targets in Boulder, Colorado, and Washington, D.C.
The women — both of whom have been accused of antisemitism themselves — each said they could not support the resolution because of what they said was Congress’ inattention to other groups facing deadly threats.
The resolution that they declined to back had bipartisan support. It was titled “Condemning the rise in ideologically motivated attacks on Jewish individuals in the United States, including the recent violent assault in Boulder, Colorado, and reaffirming the House of Representatives commitment to combating antisemitism and politically motivated violence.”
A second resolution that came to a vote on Monday was introduced by a Republican lawmaker and drew criticism from some liberal Jewish groups for using antisemitism as a guise to advance an anti-immigrant agenda. The resolution, which expressed gratitude to the ICE immigration authority, also passed, but with much less support: 113 Democrats voted against it, compared to 75 who voted for it, and six lawmakers voted “present.”
Some Democrats who voted for the second resolution said they had voted for it with reservations. “I voted for today’s resolution condemning the antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colorado last week notwithstanding my profound disappointment that it failed to condemn antisemitism itself,” Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland said in a statement, for example.
Others said they simply could not bring themselves to say yes. “I unequivocally condemn the attack in Boulder and the alarming rise in antisemitism,” said Rep. Diana DeGette of Colorado. “However, I could not support tonight’s resolution that exploits this incident to demonize migrants, celebrate ICE, and ignore the real concerns of Jewish Americans.”
Greene, who voted present on both resolutions, said she had declined to support the first because she does not support outsized attention to threats facing Jews. She noted that the resolutions passed on Monday were the 20th and 21st against antisemitism that she had voted on since taking office in 2021 and suggested that Congress’ support for Jews and Israel was driving antisemitism in the United States.
“Antisemitic hate crimes are wrong, but so are all hate crimes. Yet Congress never votes on hate crimes committed against white people, Christians, men, the homeless, or countless others,” she tweeted. She added, “Americans from every background are being murdered — even in the womb — and Congress stays silent. We don’t vote on endless resolutions defending them.”
Greene continued, “Prioritizing one group of Americans and/or one foreign country above our own people is fueling resentment and actually driving more division, including antisemitism. These crimes are horrific and easy for me to denounce. But because of the reasons I stated above, I voted present.”
Tlaib, for her part, denounced both resolutions as “Republican-led attempts to cynically politicize tragic acts of violence — like the recent horrific attack in Boulder — to demonize immigrant communities, praise ICE, and pave the path for the further repression of our constitutional rights to free speech and protest in support of Palestinian lives and human rights.”
She noted that Congress had not issued resolutions when Wadea al-Fayoume, a 6-year-old Palestinian-American near Chicago, was murdered or when three Palestinian college students were shot in Vermont.
“I stand firmly against antisemitism. And I stand firmly in support of a Free Palestine,” Tlaib said in a statement. “These values are not contradictory. Our fight against antisemitism is connected to our fight against Islamophobia, anti-Black racism, white nationalism, and oppression in all forms. We must continue to speak out for a world free from dehumanization and violence.”
Tlaib was formally censured by her colleagues in 2023 for using the phrase “From the river to the sea” on social media. The phrase is prominent in pro-Palestinian advocacy and seen by many Jews and Jewish groups as an antisemitic call for Israel’s destruction.
Greene has also drawn criticism from her colleagues and from Jewish groups for invoking antisemitic conspiracy theories. Last year, she voted against a bill that would have codified a definition of antisemitism because she said it would criminalize the “gospel” that “the Jews” handed Jesus to his executioners.
