Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib refused to apologize Wednesday for saying on Tuesday that Israel is to blame for the hospital explosion that day in Gaza, an accusation that sparked political backlash against her from Republicans as Israel denies fault.
Tlaib joined thousands of protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza during a solidarity rally hosted by the left-leaning group Jewish Voice for Peace at the National Mall. She was visibly emotional, at times pausing her speech to openly weep and criticizing lawmakers who have not backed a ceasefire resolution.
From the article:
“Our office cited an AP report yesterday that the IDF had hit a Baptist hospital in Gaza. Since then, the IDF denied responsibility and the US intelligence assessment is that this was not done by Israel,” she wrote. “It is a reminder that information is often unreliable and disputed in the fog of war (especially on Twitter where misinformation is rampant). We all have a responsibility to ensure information we are sharing is from credible sources and to acknowledge as new reports come in.”
Omar called for a “fully independent investigation to determine conclusively who is responsible for this war crime.”
It sounds like she acknowledges Israel probably isn’t behind it, but also isn’t apologizing for her initial remarks like some Republicans were calling for. The story should probably mention that higher up and more explicitly, rather than burying the lede.
also isn’t apologizing for her initial remarks
I dunno this strikes me as an issue. Like, if a known serial killer is accused of murder for obvious reasons, and we find out they were actually innocent – we weren’t wrong for our initial suspicions and accusation, but we do owe them an apology once all the information is out.
If you accuse someone who turns out to be innocent, the polite thing to do is apologize for thinking badly of them, however much you were justified in thinking so to start with.
Omar’s comment calling for further investigation is completely appropriate, while Tlaib’s refusal to apologize is inappropriate, especially since she conflated the whole thing with being anti Muslim.
but we do owe them an apology once all the information is out.
No - we don’t owe a serial killer an apology if turns out they murdered ninety-nine people instead of a hundred.
the polite thing to do is apologize for thinking badly of them
No, there is nothing “polite” about “apologizing” to a genocidal settler-colonialist state.
