Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) closed out the radical “People’s Conference for Palestine” in Detroit Sunday by boasting of her congressional power and Palestinian resilience, telling cheering attendees, “Now we’re in Congress, and we’re in every corner of the United States. We aren’t going anywhere. We are just getting started,” and declaring that their grassroots activism is winning against the “decaying halls of the empire in Washington, DC.”
The weekend-long conference, organized by a coalition of radical pro-Palestinian groups, drew scrutiny for featuring extremist voices alongside Tlaib, including convicted terrorists and anti-American activists who openly called for dismantling U.S. institutions. One speaker instructed attendees to “destroy the idea of America in Americans’ heads.”
Tlaib, the first Palestinian-American elected to Congress from Detroit, framed her speech as a declaration of Palestinian resilience. “They thought they could kill us, rape us, imprison us, violently uproot us from our olive tree farms, starve our children to death, and we would disappear,” she said. “Well, guess what? Now we’re in Congress, and we’re in every corner of the United States. We aren’t going anywhere. We are just getting started.”
She aimed her ire at the very institutions she serves in, claiming, “Detroit taught me that the political structures we are surrounded by were built on slavery and genocide and rape and oppression. It’s not the genocide-enabling Congress or the White House that will free our people. It is only us. It can only be us.”
Tlaib accused lawmakers of complicity in what she described as crimes against Palestinians: “Both parties vote time and time again to fund one of the worst crimes in history. But I need you to understand this and believe it cuz I’m there in the front seat watching. They send me videos and messages of people protesting in front of their district offices, people showing up at their town halls. They elected you. Real change doesn’t come from the cowards and warmongers in Congress. It comes from the streets. It comes from all of us mobilizing and seizing the power to resist and fight back,” she charged.
She connected international violence to domestic issues, claiming, “What our government is willing to do to Palestinians, they are willing to do to all of you. The same government that supplies bombs to Israel while excusing the destruction of hospitals and communities is also defunding health care and food assistance programs here in our country.”
Tlaib told the crowd that grassroots activism is the only path to change, declaring: “Every genocide enabler, look at this room, motherf**kers. We ain’t going anywhere. We are just growing, and growing, and growing.” She framed the fight as a multi-generational struggle, connecting grassroots activism to a broader resistance for justice and civil rights.
She repeatedly underscored her belief in the movement’s growing influence: “I’m watching it happen every single day in Congress. They can only hold us off for so long. We are growing and becoming louder. The more Palestinians they kill, the louder we are getting. The louder we are getting, the more children they starve. We cannot be ignored. We will not be ignored,” Tlaib stated:
“Gaza is the compass in this country and the masses around the world are with us.”
Her remarks drew on a long history of extreme statements. She has previously called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “genocidal maniac,” refused to condemn Hamas atrocities, and hosted events mourning Israel’s founding as a “catastrophe.”
Other radical speakers at the conference echoed her rhetoric. Hatem Bazian, chairman of American Muslims for Palestine and co-founder of Students for Justice in Palestine, told the crowd, “My campus is Gaza. The library is Gaza. The research is Gaza. The time is today for a free Palestine. The time is today to liberate the university. The time is today for decolonization.”
Sean Eren, affiliated with Students for Justice in Palestine, framed the movement as a continuation of other activist struggles: “We learn from different struggles … from Occupy Wall Street, the anti-war and anti-imperialist protests of the early 2000s, and we rearticulated them into something that didn’t quite fit within the boundaries of BDS.”
Sachin Peddada of Progressive International added a more explicit anti-American element: “The average American will never understand the plight of the Palestinian person because the state of Israel is a carbon copy of the United States. Therefore, the thing to do is to destroy the idea of America in Americans’ heads.”
Tlaib closed by emphasizing the inevitability of Palestinian freedom, reading a poem from a Gazan mother and leading chants of “Free, free Palestine.” She warned: “We will not forget what they have done. Every single genocide enabler. And we’re going to use every single resource in our bodies … to make sure … Palestine will be free.”
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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