The United States House of Representatives has formally censured Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) for statements she made regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The censure, which passed with a vote of 234-188, accuses Representative Tlaib of disseminating “false narratives” in response to an October 7 attack by Hamas and purportedly advocating for the “destruction of the state of Israel.” This disciplinary action marks her as the second Democrat to be censured by the House this year.

The resolution’s passage was facilitated by the support of 22 Democrats who sided with the majority of Republicans, overcoming the deadlock from a previous attempt to censure Representative Tlaib. Only four Republicans opposed the measure.

The motion for censure was introduced by Representative Rich McCormick (R-GA) earlier in the week. It aimed to reprimand Tlaib for her remarks while affirming her First Amendment rights. This move followed a failed attempt to pass a similar resolution by Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), which was tabled due to concerns over its language.

Efforts by Democrats to table McCormick’s motion were unsuccessful, leading to a final vote. The vote was initially scheduled for Wednesday but was expedited to Tuesday evening, superseding a concurrent censure resolution against Tlaib by Greene.

Representative Greene withdrew her resolution, citing the likelihood of McCormick’s motion passing and her desire not to compete with another censure resolution due to a lack of organization by GOP leadership.

McCormick’s resolution specifically targeted Tlaib’s comments on the recent conflict in Israel, criticizing her for blaming Israel for an airstrike on a Christian hospital in Gaza on October 18. U.S. intelligence later attributed the explosion to a misfired rocket from Palestinian Islamic Jihad, but Tlaib did not retract her statements.

The resolution also highlighted controversy over a video Tlaib shared, featuring pro-Palestinian protesters chanting “from the river to the sea,” a phrase associated with the land encompassing Israel and the Palestinian territories. While Tlaib defended the phrase as a call for peace and coexistence, it drew criticism from within her party due to its use by Hamas to call for Israel’s destruction.

Despite the censure, Tlaib has defended her position, asserting that her colleagues are distorting her views and prioritizing the censure over the well-being of individuals in Gaza. She maintains that she has condemned violence from both Hamas and the Israeli government.