HBO comedian Bill Maher responded to Michigan Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib days after she suggested people boycott his show over comments he made criticizing boycotts against Israel.
“Some people have one move only: boycott. Cancel. Make-go-away. But here’s the thing, the house voted 318 to 17 to condemn the #BDS movement, including 93% of Dems,” Maher tweeted Tuesday, referencing the House’s vote earlier this year to condemn the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement, which aims to penalize Israel for Palestinian living conditions. “Does Tlaib want to boycott 93% of her own party?”
Some people have one move only: boycott. Cancel. Make-go-away. But here’s the thing, the house voted 318 to 17 to condemn the #BDS movement, including 93% of Dems. Does Tlaib want to boycott 93% of her own party? pic.twitter.com/0QrPQmwwiw
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) August 21, 2019
The feud between Tlaib and Maher began last week after the Israeli government barred Tlaib and Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota from traveling to the country, like they had planned, citing their support for the boycott movement.
On Maher’s show last week, the HBO host argued the boycott “is a bullshit purity test by people who want to appear woke but actually slept through history class.”
“It’s predicated on this notion, I think — it’s very shallow thinking — that the Jews in Israel, mostly white, and the Palestinians are browner, so they must be innocent and correct, and the Jews must be wrong. As if the occupation came right out of the blue, that this completely peaceful people found themselves occupied,” he said.
Maybe folks should boycott his show.
I am tired of folks discrediting a form of speech that is centered on equality and freedom. This is exactly how they tried to discredit & stop the boycott to stand up against the apartheid in S. Africa. It didn’t work then and it won’t now. https://t.co/Oa49ZVfrVN
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) August 17, 2019
She responded to Maher’s criticism of the movement in a tweet, saying that “maybe folks should boycott his show” and added, “I am tired of folks discrediting a form of speech that is centered on equality and freedom. This is exactly how they tried to discredit & stop the boycott to stand up against the apartheid in S. Africa. It didn’t work then and it won’t now.”
The World Jewish Congress pushed back on Tlaib for calling for a boycott of Maher’s show, calling it “deeply disturbing” and argued that it was similar to Adolf Hitler, who “infamously boycotted Jewish-owned businesses.”
