Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) has denounced Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, describing that country’s policies as an affront to human rights and comparable to racial segregation in the American South.
Tlaib, the first Palestinian-American to serve in Congress, told Jacobin magazine that she’d witnessed Israel’s “racism”first-hand, while visiting Palestine.
I can tell you when I was in Palestine with my mother and she had to get in a separate line. There are different-colored license plates if you are Palestinian or Israeli.
The freshman lawmaker went on to compare the situation in Israel to segregation in the United States, which was enforced by the infamous Jim Crow laws, and the concept of “separate but equal.”
The congresswoman has come under fire for her support for the Boycott Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) movement. Last week she tweeted about anti-BDS legislation currently being considered by the House, arguing that the bill was unconstitutional because “our First Amendment right to free speech allows [the] boycott of inhumane policies.”