Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) decided to speak out three days after helping to promote a fake news item last weekend about Israelis reportedly killing a Palestinian boy.

What are the details?

The child, 7-year-old Qais Abu Ramila, went missing over the weekend. Authorities later discovered his body in a pond, ruling his death as accidental drowning.

Hanan Ashrawi, a Palestinian official, shared a tweet that alleged "violent Israeli settlers" had kidnapped the boy and assaulted him. According to the report Ashrawi cited, Israeli settlers threw Ramila into a well, where he froze to death.

She captioned the tweet, "The heart just shatters. The pain is unbearable. No words."

Tlaib, in turn, retweeted Ashrawi's message to her 900,000-plus followers without comment.



After the initial allegations proved to be false, however, Ashrawi recanted her original tweet and issued an apology Saturday.

Ashrawi wrote, "My apologies for retweeting something that's not fully verified. It seems that the news of his being kidnapped is not certain."

On Tuesday, Tlaib retweeted Ashrawi's apology, adding, "In this era of inaccurate and manipulative news, I will also strive to hold myself to the highest standards for what I share."



"Know that I always seek truth as we uplift the oppressed and fight for equality, justice, and freedom," she concluded.

Tlaib has not made any other remarks on the issue at the time of this writing.

What else?

As highlighted by the Times of Israel, Dani Dayan, who is the Israeli consul general in New York, blasted Tlaib over spreading what he referred to as "blood libel."

"I am always extremely cautious in criticizing US elected officials," Dayan wrote on Twitter. "However, when an American elected official retweets an unfounded blood libel against Jewish Israelis, I cannot remain silent. Congresswoman @RashidaTlaib just did."

Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, blasted Tlaib for not vetting the news before sharing it;

"This is an example of how the blood libel works in 2020," he wrote on Twitter. "@Rashida Tlaib retweets a vicious lie steeped in centuries-old accusations used to demonize Jews, then says nothing when it's disproven. An apology is overdue."