Tlaib was born to working-class Palestinian immigrants in Detroit in 1976. She graduated from Southwestern High School in Detroit in 1994, from Wayne State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1998, and from Thomas M. Cooley Law School with a Juris Doctor in 2004. Tlaib was admitted to the bar in the state of Michigan in 2007. She began her political career in 2004 when she interned with State Representative Steve Tobocman, who hired her to his staff when he became majority floor leader in 2007, and encouraged her to run for his seat the next year. She did so, and won the election.
Rashida Harbi was born in Detroit on July 24, 1976, the eldest of 14 children born to working-class Palestinian immigrants. Her mother was born in Beit Ur El Foka, near the West Bank city of Ramallah. Her father was born in Beit Hanina, a neighborhood in East Jerusalem.[1] He moved first to Nicaragua, then to Detroit. He worked on an assembly line in a Ford Motor Company plant. As the eldest, Tlaib played a role in raising her siblings while her parents worked.[2]
Tlaib began her political career in 2004 when she interned with State Representative Steve Tobocman. When Tobocman became Majority Floor Leader in 2007, he hired Tlaib to his staff.[9][10]
In 2008 Tobocman encouraged Tlaib to run for his seat, which he was vacating due to term limits. The urban district is 40% Hispanic, 25% African-American, 30% non-Hispanic white Americans, and 2% Arab American. Tlaib faced a crowded primary that included several Latinos, including former State Representative Belda Garza. She emerged victorious, carrying 44% of the vote in the eight-way Democratic primary and winning the general election with over 90% of the vote.[11]
In 2010, Tlaib faced a primary election challenge from Jim Czachorowski in his first bid for office.[12] Tlaib picked up 85% of the vote to Czachorowski's 15%,[13] and won the general election with 92% of the vote against Republican challenger Darrin Daigle.[14]
In 2012, Tlaib won reelection to the Michigan House in the newly redrawn 6th district.[15] Tlaib faced fellow incumbent Maureen Stapleton[15] in the Democratic primary and defeated her, 52%–45%.[13] She won the general election with 92% of the vote against Republican nominee Darrin Daigle.[16] Tlaib could not run for the Michigan House a fourth time in 2014 because of term limits;[17] instead, she ran for the Michigan Senate, losing to incumbent Senator Virgil Smith Jr. in the 2014 Democratic primary, 50%–42%.[18]
Tlaib is the first Muslim woman to serve as a member of the Michigan State Legislature. She is also the second Muslim woman (after Jamilah Nasheed of Missouri) to serve in a state legislature nationwide.[19]
After leaving the state legislature, Tlaib worked at Sugar Law Center, a Detroit nonprofit that provides free legal representation for workers.[20]
In 2018, Tlaib announced her candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives in Michigan's 13th congressional district.[21] Longtime Representative John Conyers had resigned from Congress in December 2017 due to a sexual harassment scandal.[22] Tlaib filed in both the Democratic primary in the special election for the balance of Conyers's 27th term and in the general election for a full two-year term.
As of July 16, 2018, Tlaib had raised $893,030 in funds, more than her five opponents in the August 7 Democratic primary.[23] Tlaib, as a member of the Justice Democrats, made a guest appearance on the political interview show Rebel HQ of the progressive media network The Young Turks (TYT).[24]
In the Democratic primary for the special election, Tlaib finished second to Detroit City Council president Brenda Jones, who received 32,727 votes (37.7% of the total) to Tlaib's 31,084 (35.9%). Bill Wild, mayor of Westland, received 13,152 votes (15.2%) and Ian Conyers, the great-nephew of former Congressman Conyers, took fourth with 9,740 (11.2%).[25]
In the Democratic primary for the general election, Tlaib defeated five other candidates.[26] She received 27,803 votes, or 31.2%.[27]
Tlaib faced no major-party opposition in the November 2018 general election, although Brenda Jones mounted an eleventh-hour write-in bid.[28] On Election Day, Tlaib became the first Palestinian-American woman to be elected to Congress.[29]
Brenda Jones challenged Tlaib in the 2020 Democratic primary. Tlaib won, 66%–34%,[30] spending over $2,000,000 in campaign funds[31] to Jones's $140,000.[32]
In 2022, following redistricting, Tlaib sought reelection in Michigan's newly drawn 12th congressional district.[33][34] She won the Democratic primary with 64% of the vote over three challengers,[35] and the general election with 71% of the vote over Republican Steven Elliott and Gary Walkowicz of the Working Class Party.[36]
In 2024, Tlaib was unopposed in the Democratic primary. In the general election she won a third term in Congress with over 69% of the vote, defeating Republican nominee James Hooper (25.4%), Green Party nominee Brenda K. Sanders (2.3%), and Working Class Party nominee Gary Walkowicz (2.6%).[37]
Tenure
Along with fellow Democrat Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Tlaib is one of the first two Muslim women to serve in Congress.[4][38][24] She took the congressional oath of office on January 3, 2019, swearing in on an English-language translation of the Quran.[39][40] She wore a thawb (thobe), a traditional embroidered Arab dress, to the swearing-in ceremony. This inspired a number of Palestinian and Palestinian-American women to share pictures on social media with the hashtag #TweetYourThobe.[41]
Ban from entering Israel
On August 15, 2019, Israel announced that Tlaib and her colleague Ilhan Omar would be denied entry into the country.[42] According to The Times of Israel, Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said Israel would not "allow those who deny our right to exist in this world to enter" and called it a "very justified decision".[42][43] It was reported that President Trump had pressed Benjamin Netanyahu's government to make such a decision.[44] The next day, Israeli authorities granted a request by Tlaib to visit her relatives in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on humanitarian grounds and under certain restrictions on political statements.[45][46] Tlaib declined to go, saying that she did not want to make the trip "under these oppressive conditions".[47][46] The Israeli interior ministry stated that Tlaib had previously agreed to abide by any rules their government had set in exchange for being permitted to visit the country, and accused her of making a "provocative request aimed at bashing the State of Israel".[46]
Campaign finance investigation
On November 14, 2019, the House Ethics Committee announced that it was investigating whether Tlaib used congressional campaign money for personal expenses in violation of House rules.[48] In August 2020 the committee directed Tlaib to reimburse her campaign $10,800, stating that Tlaib has an "obligation to act in accordance with the strict technical requirements of federal campaign laws and regulations, including the restrictions on personal use of campaign funds".[49][50]
Censure
On October 26, 2023, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene proposed H.Res 829, which would have censured Tlaib for her criticism of Israel and for "leading an insurrection" after she participated in a protest at the Capitol. The resolution did not pass, with all Democrats and nearly two dozen Republicans voting against it[51][52][53] over concerns that the language was "too incendiary".[54] Tlaib called the resolution "deeply Islamophobic" and said it attacked "peaceful Jewish anti-war advocates".[52]
On November 6, Tlaib issued a press release regarding Republicans' proposed censure resolutions against her. Tlaib said the proposed censure resolutions distorted her positions and were "filled with obvious lies". She added that she had "repeatedly denounced the horrific targeting and killing of civilians by Hamas and the Israeli government" and that she supported a ceasefire to end the conflict.[55] Tlaib said the phrase "from the river to the sea" was "an aspirational call for freedom, human rights and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction or hate."[56]
The House of Representatives censured Tlaib on November 7, 2023. Representative Rich McCormick's censure resolution (H.Res 845) accused her of "promoting false narratives regarding the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and for calling for the destruction of the state of Israel."[54][57] The resolution stated that the phrase "from the river to the sea" is "a genocidal call to violence to destroy the state of Israel and its people to replace it with a Palestinian state extending from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea".[56] 212 Republicans and 22 Democrats voted for the resolution,[51][58][59] and 188 representatives (184 Democrats and four Republicans) against it.[60] During the debate on the House floor, Tlaib said that she wanted a ceasefire and "The cries of the Palestinian and Israeli children sound no different to me". Representative Brad Schneider said that Tlaib was "trying to gaslight the world" by defending the "river to the sea" slogan and voted for the resolution, while Representative Ken Buck argued that it was not Congress's job "to censure somebody because we don't agree with them".[56]
In September 2024, several politicians and media figures, including Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, CNN personality Jake Tapper, Michigan State Senator Jeremy Moss, and Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, criticized Tlaib for allegedly saying or insinuating that Nessel was prosecuting pro-Palestinian protesters because she is Jewish.[62] A fact check by the Detroit Metro Times found that Tlaib never mentioned that Nessel is Jewish.[63][64]
In January 2019, Tlaib criticized anti-BDS legislation proposed by Senators Marco Rubio and Jim Risch. She argued that boycotting is a right and that Rubio and Risch "forgot what country they represent". Tlaib's comments were criticized by several groups, including the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which said, "Though the legislation discussed is sponsored by four non-Jewish Senators, any charge of dual loyalty has special sensitivity and resonance for Jews, particularly in an environment of rising anti-Semitism."[75][76] Tlaib responded that her comments were directed at Rubio and Risch, not the Jewish American community.[77] She was one of 17 members of Congress to vote against a July 2019 House resolution condemning the BDS movement, which passed by a margin of 381 votes.[78] Tlaib suggested boycotting HBO host Bill Maher after he denounced the BDS movement.[79]
On September 23, 2021, Tlaib called Israel an "apartheid state" on the House floor during a debate over funding for Israel's "Iron Dome" air defense system; Representative Ted Deutch responded by accusing Tlaib of antisemitism.[84]
In 2022 and 2023, Tlaib introduced resolutions aimed at recognizing the Nakba that stated that "a just and lasting peace cannot be established without addressing the Nakba and remedying its injustices towards the Palestinian people" and endorsed the Palestinian right of return.[85][86] The resolutions resulted in criticism from SenatorsRosen and Kennedy, who said that calling the "establishment of the only Jewish state a 'catastrophe' is deeply offensive" and that "the Capitol grounds should not be a pedestal to legitimize anti-Semitic bigotry".[87] Tlaib responded the criticism by noting that organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch had concluded that Israel has imposed a system of apartheid on Palestinians.[86]
During the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, Tlaib released a statement grieving the loss of both Israeli and Palestinian life, saying the only way to end the cycle of violence was to "dismantle" the apartheid system in place, and calling for the end of unconditional U.S. support for Israel. Her statement was condemned by two representatives and the Israeli ambassador to the U.S.[89] Tlaib repeatedly condemned Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel.[90] During the war, she has been the member of Congress most vehemently calling for a ceasefire.[56] She has said that her criticism of Israel has always been directed at its government and its leadership under Netanyahu, saying: "It is important to separate people and governments. No government is beyond criticism. The idea that criticizing the government of Israel is antisemitic sets a very dangerous precedent, and it’s been used to silence diverse voices speaking up for human rights across our nation."[91]
Tlaib criticized the United States' support for Israel's bombing of the Gaza Strip that killed thousands of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and accused President Biden of supporting the alleged genocide of the Palestinian people.[90] On November 3, 2023, she tweeted an antiwar video, writing, ".@POTUS, the majority of the American people are not with you on this one. #CeasefireNow."[92] The video ended with the words "Joe Biden supported the genocide of the Palestinian people. The American people won't forget. Biden, support a ceasefire now or don't count on us in 2024".[93] The thread ended with the tweet, "From the river to the sea is an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction, or hate. My work and advocacy is always centered in justice and dignity for all people no matter faith or ethnicity."[94]
In 2023, Tlaib was among 56 Democrats to vote for H.Con.Res. 21, which directed President Biden to remove U.S. troops from Syria within 180 days.[97][98]
Russian invasion of Ukraine
Tlaib condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, calling it an "unjustifiable violation of international law", and has called for sanctions on Russia following the invasion.[99] She has voted multiple times to provide Ukraine with support following the invasion.[100][101]
Tlaib supports abortion rights and has criticized what she called "white men trying to force women to not have the right to seek legal abortions".[106] She was endorsed by the abortion rights organization NARAL.[107]
Drug law reform
Tlaib supports the descheduling of cannabis and has supported the MORE Act, which would deschedule the substance, expunge cannabis convictions, and implement various social reforms aimed at addressing communities impacted by the War on Drugs.[108] In doing so, she emphasized the impact cannabis scheduling has had on minority communities, calling the war on drugs "an effort targeting communities of color through overpolicing, criminalization, and mass incarceration".[109][110]
Immigration
Tlaib was an early supporter of the movement to abolish the Immigration Customs Enforcement agency.[66] In June 2019 she was one of four Democratic representatives to vote against the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Humanitarian Assistance and Security at the Southern Border Act, a $4.5 billion border funding bill that required Customs and Border Protection enact health standards for individuals in custody such as forming standards for individuals for "medical emergencies; nutrition, hygiene, and facilities; and personnel training."[111][112]
Police killings
Following the killing of Daunte Wright, Tlaib called American policing "inherently and intentionally racist", saying, "No more policing, incarceration, and militarization. It can't be reformed."[113] Detroit police chief James Craig called Tlaib's comments "disgusting".[114] In 2023, Tlaib and Congresswoman Cori Bush were the only two representatives to vote against a resolution recognizing National Police Week.[115]
Later that day, Tlaib spoke at a reception for the MoveOn campaign, recounting a conversation with her son in which she expressed her resolve to "impeach the motherfucker".[118] Trump retorted that her comments were "highly disrespectful to the United States of America".[119][120]
In 1998, at the age of 22, Tlaib married Fayez Tlaib. They have two sons. The couple have since divorced. In 2018, a campaign spokesperson referred to Tlaib as a single mother.[122]
In September 2018, The New York Times reported that Tlaib walked into her family's mosque to express her gratitude for the opportunity to run for Congress, articulating a belief that "my Allah is She".[123] The Detroit Free Press reported that, although she recognizes that some in her faith community consider her not "Muslim enough",[1] she believes that Allah understands that she deems her actions "reflective of Islam".[1]
^Olmsted, Edith (September 23, 2024). "Rashida Tlaib Targeted Over Made-Up Quote". The New Republic. Retrieved September 25, 2024. Nessel's religious background was only mentioned as part of the description from the article's author, who wrote, "Tlaib also criticized Nessel, who is the first Jewish person elected Attorney General of Michigan, for what she believes is a biased approach to the protest." A closer look reveals that Tlaib's statement was not about Nessel being Jewish but about systemic anti-Palestinian bigotry.
^"Membership". Congressional Caucus for the Equal Rights Amendment. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
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