Tlaib Vote Shows That the Barbarians Aren’t At the Gates; They’re in Congress

One of the most open-and-shut issues in the history of the United States came before Congress Wednesday, and any decent human being had every reason to expect that the vote on it was unanimous. One of the wise solons present, however, decided, no doubt after a sober period of soul-searching, to have her vote simply record the bare fact that she was present and not her affirmation or rejection of the issue at hand. That righteous and thoughtful lawmaker was Rashida Tlaib (D-Ramallah), and the issue at hand was a condemnation of Hamas for the rape of captive Israeli women.

If you’re wondering how anyone in his or her right mind could have any hesitation about condemning savage mass rapes, it’s only because you haven’t been overcome by the Jew-hatred that has since Oct. 7 become fashionable among leftists and that has for decades been deeply rooted among the supporters of the Palestinian jihad against Israel. The winsome and patriotic Tlaib is, of course, both a deeply committed leftist and a supporter of the Palestinian jihad, so her vote was no real surprise. Still, it sends a chill down the spine to realize that the barbarians aren’t at the gates; they’re in Congress.

Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) reported Wednesday that the House “voted unanimously, 418-0, to condemn Hamas terrorists for rape and sexual violence on Oct. 7.” Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.), who introduced the bill, H.Res.966, noted that “on Oct. 7, Hamas terrorists attacked Israel, mercilessly killing 1,200 people; raping, mutilating, burning and assaulting their victims to inflict physical and psychological pain, unleashing trauma that continues to plague a grieving Israel. The brutality was planned and calculated.” No fair-minded person could disagree, and so Frankel’s resolution gained co-sponsors from the other side of the aisle, including Reps. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-Fla.) and Jen Kiggans (R-Va.).

JNS noted that H.Res.966 “condemns all rape and sexual violence ‘as weapons of war,’ including those Hamas committed on and after Oct. 7; calls on all countries to criminalize rape and sexual assault and hold both state and non-state armed groups accountable for such attacks; and tells international groups to ‘unequivocally condemn the barbaric murder, rape, sexual assault and kidnapping by Hamas and other terrorists on and since Oct. 7 and hold accountable all perpetrators.’”

It affirmed U.S. “support for independent, impartial investigations of rape and sexual violence committed by Hamas on and since Oct. 7” and reaffirmed a “commitment to supporting survivors of rape and sexual violence, including those brutalized on and since Oct. 7.” Who could object? Rashida Tlaib.

Frankel, clearly aware that some among her fellow leftists sided with Hamas despite its barbarity, added, “Sadly, Hamas’s savagery has been met with a shrug—and even denial—from many corners of the world. Our resolution loudly and clearly condemns all rape and forms of sexual violence as weapons of war, including those acts committed by Hamas terrorists on and since Oct. 7.” One of those who was ready with a shrug and denial was Tlaib, who stood out as the lone member of the House of Representatives who could not bring herself to condemn Hamas’ rapes and so voted “present.”

Tlaib apparently calculated that a "yes" vote on this resolution might be seen as a condemnation of Hamas and its jihad against Israel, and unlike her colleague among The Squad, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Swizzle Stick), Tlaib couldn’t bring herself to go on record in such a manner. Another Squad member, the Somalia-First Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Mogadishu) likewise registered her dissent but in a less immediately obvious way: she simply didn’t vote at all.

How could either Tlaib or Omar think that this bill was even remotely controversial? The answer to that is clear: their hatred of Israel is so intense that they just don’t have any problem with what Hamas did on Oct. 7, and they don’t want to alienate the hordes of anti-Israel demonstrators across the country who have been increasingly open about their unhesitating support for the jihad terror group.

In this, Tlaib and Omar represent a further coarsening and degeneration of an already degraded American body politic. Mass migration, the anti-assimilation ethos among the migrants and their supporters, and the left’s war against patriotism have brought an unprecedented ugliness into American politics, as the standards of civility and of civilization itself that endured for over two centuries have been eroded under the heavy pressure of multiculturalism, anti-white racism, revisionist history, and far-left agitprop.

Now we have elected representatives in Congress who can’t bring themselves to condemn rape. And it’s going to get worse.