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By Justice Markandey Katju |
By a majority consisting mostly of Republicans, the US House of Representatives censured Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian member of the House for supporting Palestinians.
But Rashida has condemned killing of both Israeli and Palestinian children, not the latter alone. She has clarified that she is not against Jews, but is only against the hawkish Netanyahu government. She wants the war to stop, a war which has already killed 10,000 Palestinians, mostly children. In choking words she said “Palestinians are not disposable. We are human beings, like anyone else “.
And for saying all this she was asked by a member of the House to resign, and called an anti-Semite by another member.
Rashida has clarified that the expression “from the river to the sea “is an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction or hate. In other words she advocates not killing of Jews in Israel, but a one state solution i.e. a united secular democratic state of Palestine, which would include Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, the West Bank, and Gaza, where Jews, Muslims and Christians can all live peacefully and amicably
I too support a one state solution to the Palestinian problem
One may disagree with this view, but should one be censured for even stating it?
It seems the Constitutional right of freedom of speech applies throughout USA, but not within the four walls of the House of Representatives.
(Justice Katju is a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India. These are his personal views.)
