Rashida Tlaib pointed to her fellow lawmakers that the first 14 pages of the document are the names of infants under the age of one when killed by the Israeli army.
The Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib submitted to the official record of the United States Congress on Thursday a document containing the names of children killed by the Israeli army during the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
The 649-page document recently released by the Gaza Health Ministry contains the names of infants, children, women, and elderly Palestinians between the ages of 77 and 101, amongst whom were Nakba survivors.
Tlaib said that the document, issued by the Gaza Health Ministry, is of the 34,344 identified Palestinians most of whom are women, children, and elderly who have been killed during the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib speaks out at the Congress against the Israeli genocide in Gaza, reminding them that Palestinians are human beings and not numbers. pic.twitter.com/7gt247qWTB
— Kuffiya (@Kuffiyateam) September 20, 2024
She stressed quoting health experts that it does not represent the total number of victims killed during Israel’s genocide since the death toll is expected to rise due to disease and starvation, and the “thousands more” that are “either dismembered, unrecognizable or buried beneath the rubble.”
“Behind these numbers are real people who have their future stolen, their lives forever changed,” Tlaib said addressing the floor of the US House of Representatives.
The Democratic Representative pointed to her fellow lawmakers that the first 14 pages of the document are the names of infants under the age of one when killed by Israel’s occupation army, urging her colleagues to look at it.
“14 pages of babies’ names, that’s 710 babies that the Israeli government has murdered,” she said.
“This is not self-defense. This is genocide,” she stressed while questioning how anyone can justify this.
Tlaib told the floor that the world is living through “one of the most documented horrific crimes against humanity in our history”, pointing out that the Palestinian children killed during the genocide in Gaza “did not live to see their first birthday.”
The list of the 34,000+ Palestinians killed by Israel in Gaza since October 7th is 649 pages long.
The first 14 pages? Babies under one year old.
Read that again.
Fourteen pages of babies butchered by Israel with American weapons.
There is no other word for this but genocide. pic.twitter.com/fc9k99aOn8
— sarah (@sahouraxo) September 17, 2024
She emphasized that the crimes being committed cannot be “normalized” criticizing her colleagues’ silence on the issue.
“I wonder if it’s because these babies are Palestinian! They’re children. That’s it. They’re children,” she stressed.
Tlaib added: “I don’t believe I have to consistently remind my colleagues that Palestinians are also human beings.”
The US Congresswoman concluded her speech by saying that American tax dollars are paying for the genocide in Gaza and that US weapons are being used by the Israeli occupation army to commit war crimes in violation of US and international laws.
She stressed that if the US administration wants to stop this genocide it should stop sending weapons to Israel.
“We must stop arming and funding genocide,” she said.
We will never ignore them 💔🇵🇸
A 649-page document was released with the the names, ages, genders, IDs and number of every Palestinian killed in Gaza from October 7 to August 31. The first 14 pages of the document are children under 1 year old.😔 pic.twitter.com/HaacAjDVFA
— 𝙻𝙰𝙸𝙻𝙰 (@LailaPalestini1) September 19, 2024
Tlaib Vs. Netanyahu
During the speech of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before the Congress on July 24, Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib confronted him, holding him accountable for the genocide in the Gaza Strip.
During Netanyahu’s address, Tlaib wore a keffiyeh and a Palestinian flag, and held up a black-and-white sign with “war criminal” written on one side and “guilty of genocide” on the other.
“They will not erase us. Palestinians exist and we deserve to live. Our presence today will be a reminder that we aren’t going anywhere,” Tlaib said regarding her presence at the speech.
“I will never back down in speaking truth to power. The apartheid government of Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians,” Tlaib continued.
“Netanyahu is a war criminal committing genocide against the Palestinian people,” Tlaib also tweeted.
“It is utterly disgraceful that leaders from both parties have invited him to address Congress. He should be arrested and sent to the International Criminal Court.”
Tlaib also wrote that the standing ovation in Congress for Netanyahu was “disgusting.”
Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian-American congresswoman, was born in 1976 and has long advocated for Palestinian rights. She is known for her strong stance against unconditional American support for Israel.
Last November, the US House of Representatives passed a resolution censuring Tlaib for her condemnation of President Joe Biden and Israel’s policies on Gaza.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
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