This was far from the only controversial comment about Israel made at the event.
By AARON REICHRashida Tlaib(photo credit: REUTERS)
While many on the Left have compared the US practices along the Mexican border as being reminiscent of Nazi concentration camps, US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) went with another controversial comparison – Gaza.“Do you know what I saw at the border? I saw Gaza,” said Tlaib on Saturday during the American Muslims for Palestine conference in Chicago, as reported by the Jewish News Syndicate. “When you think about the border, you have to got to understand how interconnected the oppression in Palestine is with the oppression taking place at the border.”She also referenced the issue of clean water in Michigan, and said she would fight for clean water there like she would fight "for clean water in Gaza."This was far from the only controversial comment about Israel made at the event. At the same conference, Linda Sarsour – former head of the Woman's March and current surrogate for US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders – stated that supporting Israel is akin to supporting white supremacist ideologies and movements. And, like Tlaib, she also equated the situation in Gaza to the US-Mexican border.“Ask those who call themselves progressive Zionists to explain to you how can they be against the separation of children on the US-Mexican border?" She asked rhetorically at the conference. "How can they be against building a wall between us and Mexico? How can they be against agencies like ICE–Immigration Customs Enforcement?"Tlaib is the first Palestinian elected to Congress and has been a very divisive figure for her stances regarding Israel and for the progressive policies common among "The Squad," the group of young, freshman democratic congresswomen including Tlaib, Ilhan Omar (Minnesota), Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (New York) and Ayanna Pressley (Massachusetts). Her and Omar's advocacy and support for the BDS movement caused their attempted trip to Israel earlier this year to be blocked by the Israeli government.
