President Barack Obama says, what's happening to the Palestinians, unbearable. And then, well, members of Congress basically being sanctioned. I know they use the word censored, sanctioned for [00:00:16] speaking truth about humanitarian dynamics. It's a hell of a thing. Here's President Obama's comment first. >> Speaker 2: If there's any chance of us being able to act constructively to do something, [00:00:33] it will require an admission of complexity, and maintaining what on the surface may seem contradictory ideas, that what Hamas did was horrific and there's no justification for it. [00:00:53] And what is also true is that the occupation and what's happening to Palestinians is unbearable. [00:01:09] And what is also true is that there is a history of the Jewish people that may be dismissed unless your grandparents, or your great-grandparents, or your uncle, [00:01:27] or your aunt, tell you stories about the madness of antisemitism. And what is true is that there are people right now who are dying who have nothing to do with what Hamas did. [00:01:48] >> Speaker 1: That part, let's pause on this moment, because Netanyahu is utilizing Hamas as a proxy in order to make a case against the Palestinians. [00:02:06] It's kinda like what America did when the American government utilized the terrorist attack, 911, as a proxy to go invade Iraq, [00:02:24] saying they were harbors of known terrorists. And then they said, no, no, no they have weapons of mass destruction. Remember, the proximity was what? 911, terrorist attack. [00:02:41] Do you understand the play here? The blueprint has been laid out and done before. Hamas is not Palestine. And the reality is, when students walked out of colleges all across this country, [00:03:01] pro-Jewish student organizations walked hand-in-hand with pro-Palestinian student organizations as well. Understanding the humanitarian dynamic associated with this. [00:03:18] And for those of you who would proclaim that Netanyahu had no choice, has no choice but to kill innocent individuals because of the horrific acts of Hamas, I want to remind you of something. [00:03:33] Hamas, according to the narrative, did their extreme deed against the Israeli people and went back to Palestine. And so Netanyahu says, [00:03:50] I have to go there in order to defend Israel. And if there's, well, considerable collateral damage and death of innocent civilians, so be it. [00:04:06] We have no choice, according to them. Now, that's contrary to the vast majority of what people in Israel would like to see. That is, obviously, adversarial to what we in this country would [00:04:23] like our political leaders to agree with. But Netanyahu is lying, let me tell you why he's lying. If Hamas did what they did and hid inside of Israel, do you think he would have the same narrative of, [00:04:42] we have to destroy Hamas by killing Israelis. We have to destroy Hamas regardless of the collateral damage of Israeli citizens. Of course, he would never do that. He would operate with precision. [00:04:58] He would operate with exacting precision in order to eliminate the threat that has threatened them. You see, the entire protocol, blueprint, plan, execution would be different if they were looking for Hamas inside of Israel. [00:05:18] They would care about collateral damage. Do you see my point? Humanitarian elements have been brushed aside not only by Netanyahu, but unfortunately, by this very government known as the United States of America. [00:05:38] How are we, the only nation, part of the permanent security force for the UN, one of the votes that could basically eliminate everybody else's vote, how do we vote against humanitarian efforts? How does that happen? [00:05:53] How do we evolve so much that we are the lone vote against the ceasefire in order to make sure innocent civilians are able to have basic things like food and water. They have nothing to do with the war. Once again, Netanyahu is utilizing Hamas as a proxy to make a case against [00:06:13] Palestinians who have nothing to do with this. Hamas's October 7 killing spree in southern Israel was horrific and unjustifiable, but what is also true is that the occupation and [00:06:28] what's happening in Palestine to Palestinians is unbearable. Once again, the quote from President, former President Barack Obama. This was published on Saturday. The remarks came after Obama earlier warned that an Israeli ground operation [00:06:44] in Gaza could backfire, arguing that while Israel had the right to defend itself, any civilian death would increase support for extremism and harm the country's long term security. In this latest intervention, the former president argued for [00:07:01] all sides of the debate over Israel and Palestine to acknowledge the complexity of the conflict and all parties valid grievances. There is a history of the Jewish people that may be dismissed unless your grandparents or your great grandparents or your uncle or [00:07:17] your aunt tell you stories about the madness of antisemitism, Obama said. And what is true is that there are people right now who are dying who have nothing to do with what Hamas did, end quote. [00:07:33] The comments came in an interview with Pod Save America, a podcast hosted by multiple former White House aides to President Obama. In an excerpt that was published recently. Now, Representative Rashida Talib, I want you to understand [00:07:51] some dynamics that are associated with our hypocrisy in America. We are literally looking at a Congress who has decided to sanction a person who has stood up for innocent life being killed, okay, here's her response. [00:08:12] >> Speaker 3: I can't believe I have to say this, but Palestinian people are not disposable. [00:08:33] We are human beings just like anyone else. My sifty, my grandmother, like all Palestinians, just wants to live her life with freedom and human dignity we all deserve. [00:08:50] Speaking up to save lives, Mr. Chair no matter faith, no matter ethnicity should not be controversial in this chamber. The cries of the Palestinian and Israeli children sound no different to me. Why? [00:09:06] What I don't understand is why the cries of Palestinians sound different to you all. 71% of Michigan Democrats support a ceasefire. So you can try to censor me, but you can't silence their voices. [00:09:21] I urge my colleagues to join with the majority of Americans and support a ceasefire now to save as many lives as possible. President Biden must listen to and represent all of us, not just some of us. I urge the president to have the courage to call for [00:09:37] a ceasefire in the end of killings. >> Speaker 1: Biden is an institutionalist. He's not going to budge on this, in my opinion. Let's count the ways here. The representative is correct. [00:09:55] I can't believe you have to say this either. Human life is human life. I'm going to get criticized for this, and I'm fine with it. [00:10:12] Just a few months ago, we were here and I was talking about how Kanye lost his damn mind. I was talking about the white supremacist coming after Jewish individuals. [00:10:29] I brought on a dear friend who happens to be a Jewish man to talk about it. And I stood against the hate that was verbally launched against Jewish people. [00:10:46] Now I'm coming against the hate that is being launched against the Palestinian people because I give a damn about the people. Now, Representative Omar had some words as well. [00:11:05] Here's her reaction. >> Speaker 4: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is glaring hypocrisy when you have Republicans on the other side of the aisle trying to create definitions and say, Rashida wants to annihilate people. [00:11:22] When Max Miller himself went on TV and said, we're turning Gaza into a parking lot and we wanna annihilate Palestinians, nobody condemned him on that side of the aisle. What is true here is that every single one of them has not acknowledged [00:11:38] the fact that Palestinians are dying in the tens of thousands, but will continue to say, it is us who are not acknowledging humanity. Rashida will stand strong. >> Gentle lady time has expired. >> And the palestinian movement will continue for [00:11:53] liberation until every single Palestinian, >> Speaker 2: Gentle lady time has expired. >> Speaker 2: Has the right to live in liberty. >> Gentleman from Maryland is recognized. >> Speaker 1: Representative Omar, great leader. I've had her on my radio show a few times. Remarkable insight, Representative you're casting [00:12:12] your pearls before swine, as scripture would say. The individuals that you are talking to, they don't care about this country, much less another one. The House of Representatives voted to censor [00:12:29] Democratic Representative Rashida Talib. This happened to us tonight, despite her emotionally defending herself as Republicans or some members of her own party voted for resolution that claimed she had been, quote, promoting false narratives regarding October 7, 2023. [00:12:49] Hamas attack on Israel, and for calling the destruction or the destruction of the state of Israel, which she never did. The tally was 234 yes votes, 188 no votes. Remember, some Democrats actually voted to censor her as well. [00:13:05] Now, let's be very clear. They said she promoted a false narrative about October 7, 2023. What about the Republicans who supported a false narrative of January 6? [00:13:22] A false narrative of someone stole the election from Donald Trump. A false narrative that permeates until this day about the terrorist who attempted to overthrow democracy. Democrats, to you. [00:13:39] I need you all to sanction some folks your damn self. There's more, Representative Omar could barely contain herself when speaking out in favor of truth on the House floor. At issue was whether Representative Talib should be formally censored, [00:13:58] as proposed by Representative Rich McCormick, Republican out of Georgia, for promoting false narratives. It was Representative Margie Tiller Green who first decided to make the resolution. [00:14:14] She doesn't have the weight to pull it all the way through, so they told her to take a backseat to the other rep who did. It is insane. These are human beings. These are people. We are still, at least now, at least for now, we are still inside of a representative form of government. [00:14:32] The vast majority of Americans disagree with the current president on this. The vast majority of Americans are for a ceasefire and humanitarian aid. The vast majority of Israelis are against how Netanyahu has utilized, has utilized Hamas as a proxy to do whatever he wants to do to the people of Palestine. [00:14:49] The vast majority of people are decent on this planet. It's our leaders who are effed up. Mr. Mayor, your thoughts? >> Speaker 5: I think you were spot on in your analogy. I need to say in full disclosure that both Talib and also Omar are close friends. [00:15:07] We broke bread together, so I'm not speaking to your audience in a space where I'm unbiased in this issue. And even if I wasn't in close proximity, intimate relationship with these sisters, I still would say the same thing. What I'm about to say is that America's reaction to what Israeli's government, [00:15:27] right now, Netanyahu's government is doing to Palestine, is a continuation of how America see black and brown bodies and the long suffering of these people does not upset the stomach of American population. If you replace the cries from Rashida Tlaib's speech and put black in there, [00:15:46] none of it would be improper. None of it will be anti American because it is how this country shows up. And you brought up something that is extremely important. America allowing what happened on 911 to be proxy to go into Iraq and destroy that nation looks exactly like how Gaza looked right now. [00:16:04] The destruction in Gaza, the casual killing of kids, that 10,000 number people cannot forget a vast majority of them are children. So when people say that it is wrong to defend Palestinians to the only American Palestinian in Congress, [00:16:20] it is wrong to stand up to them, what are we saying? We're saying that life, brown life does not matter to this country. And we will censor you regardless of what white people have done in the past in this country and are currently doing. Talking about the Republicans standing with January Sixers and Donald Trump's big [00:16:40] lie, that's not enough to get censored, but standing up against their interests or anything they believe they deem holy will get you censored in this manner. The good thing about it is, censure in America is only based on if Rashida Tlaib's district is gonna kick her out because this Congress, [00:16:57] what's supposed to be a holy space, a sacred space, has censored you. But everybody looking, watching on, knows there's no damn way we can call this Congress. This Congress has put us through what we've been through, wholly sacred or anything other than corrupt. [00:17:14] We're watching the end of America's democracy right now, in real time. >> Damn near.