In a rush to judge Israel for a crime it did not commit, Rep. Rashida Tlaib stepped into hot water (again!) by retweeting an inflammatory and inaccurate post accusing Israelis for the death of a young Arab boy.
The anti-Semitic American representative, who has Palestinian roots, retweeted a post accusing “Israeli settlers” of kidnapping and killing an Arab boy in east Jerusalem.
Tragically, Qais Abu Ramila — who had gone to the local market to buy pitas — fell into a hole in the street and drowned. But after the family reported him missing, Palestinians immediately accused Israeli “settlers” of kidnapping the boy and even set out in masses to protest at the nearest Jewish neighborhood.
Meanwhile it was Israeli police that investigated the incident and eventually found the 8-year-old child. Israeli first responders found him on Saturday and tried to revive him.
Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat and a backer of the Boycott Divestment Sanctions movement against Israel, reposted an unverified Twitter post by Hanan Ashrawi, a top Palestinian official, accusing Israeli settlers of kidnapping, assaulting and throwing the 8-year-old child into a well.
“The heart just shatters,” Ashrawi said.
Ashrawi apologized for “retweeting something that’s not fully verified,” but Tlaib did not retweet the retraction. (She did later without an apology. She accused people of “executing)
Israel’s consul general in New York accused Tlaib of spreading a “blood libel.”
“I am always extremely cautious in criticizing US elected officials,” Dayan wrote on Twitter. “However, when an American elected official retweets an unfounded blood libel against Jewish Israelis, I cannot remain silent. Congresswoman @RashidaTlaib just did.”
Residents of Beit Hanina who were searching for Abu Ramila tried to enter a nearby Jewish neighborhood after unfounded rumors started circulating that residents there had kidnapped the boy. Police blocked the protestors, but scuffles ensued, and some 12 demonstrators were injured.
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