Democrats round on Rashida Tlaib for accusing Biden of supporting genocide in Gaza

Democrats have criticised one of their own, congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, after she accused President Joe Biden of supporting genocide in Gaza.

Ms Tlaib made the accusation in a video posted to social media on Friday, which featured a clip of President Biden stating his support for Israel.

The video also shows clips of the dead and injured in Gaza, along with pro-Palestinian protests across the US.

Ms Tlaib then addresses President Biden directly and calls for a ceasefire.

"Joe Biden supported the genocide of the Palestinian people," titles at the end of the video stated. "The American people won't forget."

"Biden, support a ceasefire now, or don't count on us in 2024," it added, referencing the upcoming US presidential election.

The video also featured people chanting the slogan "from the river to the sea", which calls for Palestinian control of all land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, including Israel.

Jewish groups like the Anti Defamation League say the slogan is a call for the destruction of the state of Israel, and that it is "an anti-Semitic charge denying the Jewish right to self-determination."

That interpretation is disputed by some pro-Palestinian activists who say that most people chanting it are calling for an end to Israel's occupation of the West Bank and blockade of Gaza, not the destruction of Israel itself.

Representing a district in Michigan, Ms Tlaib is the only Palestinian-American woman in US congress, and one of just three Muslim members.

Her remarks have been met by pushback from the White House and several Democratic colleagues, including those from her own state.

In a tweet to Ms Tlaib, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel called the use of the slogan "hurtful", adding: "I have supported and defended you countless times, even when you have said the indefensible, because I believed you to be a good person".

"Please retract this cruel and hateful remark," Ms Nessel said.

"This is not how Jews view the phrase 'from the river to the sea.' This is not how Hamas views the phrase 'from the river to the sea,'" he tweeted.

"Hamas uses it as a rallying cry," Mr Moss added. "And they don't simply want to displace Jews in Israel. They want Jews dead."

Ms Tlaib has countered this interpretation of the slogan, writing on X, formerly Twitter, that it is "an aspirational call for freedom, human rights and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction or hate."

Other progressive Democrats, like Rep Pramila Jayapal from Washington, declined to side with Ms Tlaib's comments that President Biden supports "genocide."

"I am not willing to say that yet," Ms Jayapal said in an interview with MSNBC. "But I will just tell you that Rashida is not the first person to say this.

"There are credible reports from agencies across the world. And, you know, the United Nations has said we are hurtling towards the genocide of Palestinians."

Jon Finer, the White House deputy national security advisor, told ABC in an interview on Sunday that the Biden administration disagrees "with some of that messaging and with some of the terms used to describe this conflict."

"We do not accept their application to this particular war even as we continue to raise our serious concerns about the toll that this is taking on civilian life," he said.

More than 1,400 Israelis were killed in Hamas attacks on 7 October. Since then, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said more than 10,000 Palestinians have been killed.

Mr Biden has repeatedly said that he supports Israel's right to defend itself, while pushing for pauses in fighting to allow humanitarian aid, food and water into Gaza.

His stance has been backed by many in the Democratic party. But Mr Biden has also received some criticism, especially by Arab-American Democrats.

A recent poll showed only 17% of Arab-American voters plan to vote for Mr Biden in 2024, a drop from 59% in 2020.