(JTA) — A Jewish politician in South Florida suggested that Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian American who just entered Congress, might “blow up Capitol Hill.”
Anabelle Lima-Taub, a Hallandale Beach commissioner since 2016, also called Tlaib a “Hamas-loving anti-Semite” in a Facebook post.
The post, which also included a link to an online petition to oust Tlaib from office, was removed Monday after being up for nearly a week. It drew outrage in the local and national media.
Lima-Taub, a native of Israel, wrote in the post: “A Hamas-loving anti-Semite has NO place in government! She is a danger and [I] would not put it past her to become a martyr and blow up Capitol Hill.”
The American Jewish Committee was critical of her remarks.
“We have serious disagreements with @RashidaTlaib, but this hateful rhetoric directed towards her is disgusting,” AJC tweeted. “We call on the Broward County Commission to take appropriate action against the commissioner in question.”
Her commissioner colleagues condemned the post but did not call to discipline the junior commissioner.
Tlaib, the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, has called for a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a reduction in foreign aid to Israel. This month, she suggested that backers of a series of pro-Israel bills “forgot what country they represent,” raising the specter of the dual-loyalty charge.
Lima-Taub was born in Haifa, and grew up in New York, according to the Hallandale Beach government website.
She told the NBC Miami affiliate that she stands by her post.
“I urge anyone that was offended by it, especially some of the self-righteous colleagues that I have, to research and Google BDS, Google Hamas, Google Hezbollah, look up CAIR and look up Rashida Tlaib’s affiliations with these groups,” Lima-Taub said.
