Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) on Saturday retweeted, then removed, a tweet falsely blaming Israelis for the death of an Arab child in eastern Jerusalem, JTA reported.
Tlaib retweeted a tweet by PLO official Hanan Ashrawi who was quote-tweeting an account which accused “Israeli settlers” of kidnapping, assaulting and throwing eight-year-old Qais Abu Ramila from the neighborhood of Beit Hanina into a well.
Police, however, believe that Abu Ramila slipped and fell into a reservoir of rainwater and suffered injuries that rendered him unable to climb out. His body was found early Saturday morning after hours of searches.
Tlaib subsequently removed her retweet, according to JTA, and Ashrawi eventually apologized for “retweeting something that’s not fully verified.”
Dani Dayan, the Israeli consul general in New York, criticized Tlaib for retweeting the false information.
“I am always extremely cautious in criticizing U.S. elected officials. However, when an American elected official retweets an unfounded blood libel against Jewish Israelis, I cannot remain silent. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib just did,” he tweeted.
Since being elected to Congress, Tlaib has already been involved in several controversial incidents related to Israel.
Tlaib claimed in an interview in May that Palestinian Arabs living in the British Mandate prior to the establishment of the State of Israel “provided” a safe haven to Jews after the Holocaust.
In addition, when asked in a past television interview whether she would vote against military aid to Israel when she goes to Congress, Tlaib replied, “Absolutely.”
In August, Israel announced it would bar entry to Tlaib and fellow Muslim Congress woman Ilhan Omar over their support for the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Most recently, Tlaib appeared to blame the Jersey City shooting on “white supremacy” even though the attackers had been identified as members of an extremist “anti-white and anti-Semitic” movement.
In this case as well, Tlaib made the false claim on Twitter and then deleted the tweet after being called out on it.