Congressman Seeks To Ban Non-American Flags From Capitol as ‘Squad’ Member Defiantly Displays Palestinian Flag Outside Office Door

A Jewish Republican congressman is proposing legislation to ban the display of all foreign flags on Capitol Hill in response to Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib’s display of the Palestinian flag amid Hamas’s war against Israel. “The halls of Congress belong to America,” the amendment’s sponsor, Congressman Max Miller, wrote on X. “They should be reserved for flags that embody our great nation. The Palestinian flag should not have a place here.” Mr. Miller’s amendment states that it would ban members of Congress from displaying “any flag or pennant other than the flag of the United States, the flag or pennant of any State or territory or possession of the United States, or the POW–MIA flag.”The amendment was filed in response to Ms. Tlaib’s continued display of a Palestinian flag. Ms. Tlaib, who is the first Palestinian-American to serve in Congress, first began displaying the flag outside of her congressional office earlier this year after Israel’s minister for national security, Itmar Ben-Givr, removed the flag from all public places at Israel, saying that it is used by those who “incite and encourage terrorism.”As of Tuesday, the flag was on display outside the office of Ms. Tlaib, a member of the so-called Squad. A fierce critic of the Israeli government, Ms. Tlaib has a long history of controversial comments that have been criticized as being antisemitic.Ms. Tlaib and her fellow “Squad” member, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, have been banned from entering Israel by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government. She was later offered the opportunity to travel to the West Bank to visit family members, but she declined. Ms. Tlaib, Ms. Omar, and Congresswoman Cori Bush have come under fire in recent days from Republicans and Democrats alike as the three members placed the blame for the war, at least in part, at Israel’s feet. In a statement released Sunday — more than 24 hours after the war began — Ms. Tlaib said the end to Israeli “apartheid” is the only solution to closing the decades-long conflict. “The path to that future must include lifting the blockade [on Gaza], ending the occupation [of Palestinian territories], and dismantling the apartheid system that creates the suffocating, dehumanizing conditions that can lead to resistance,” Ms. Tlaib said in a statement. In a post on X on Monday, Ms. Omar blamed the Hamas attack on Israel’s status as an “apartheid” state. “We know occupation and systematic apartheid are a violation of international law and it must end,” the congresswoman said. She also called for an end to all “unconditional” arms sales to the Jewish state. Ms. Bush echoed those sentiments. “Our ultimate focus must be on a just and lasting peace that ensures safety for everyone in the region,” she said in a post on X. “Violations of human rights do not justify more violations of human rights, and a military response will only exacerbate the suffering of Palestinians and Israelis alike.”“As part of achieving a just and lasting peace, we must do our part to stop this violence and trauma by ending U.S. government support for Israeli military occupation and apartheid,” Ms. Bush added. Two of the congresswomen’s Democratic colleagues — Congressman Ritchie Torres and Congressman Josh Gottheimer, who is Jewish — said their colleagues are excusing terrorism. Mr. Torres, who stands out as one of the fiercest defenders of Israel in Congress, lambasted his colleagues in a statement to Jewish Insider. “Aid to Israel is and should be unconditional, and never more so than in this moment of critical need,” the congressman said. “Shame on anyone who glorifies as ‘resistance’ the largest single-day mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust. It is reprehensible and repulsive.” “It sickens me that while Israelis clean the blood of their family members shot in their homes, they believe Congress should strip U.S. funding to our democratic ally and allow innocent civilians to suffer,” Mr. Gottheimer told the Hill.

Congressman Seeks To Ban Non-American Flags From Capitol as ‘Squad’ Member Defiantly Displays Palestinian Flag Outside Office Door

Congressman Seeks To Ban Non-American Flags From Capitol as ‘Squad’ Member Defiantly Displays Palestinian Flag Outside Office Door

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