Day of pride and celebrations for extended family in West Bank
Relatives hope Tlaib will raise more awareness of the Palestinian cause across US Congress
The Michigan primary victory of Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American who is expected to become the first Muslim woman to serve in the US Congress, triggered an outpouring of joy in her ancestral village.
Relatives in Beit Our Al Foqa, where Tlaib’s mother was born, greeted the news with a mixture of pride and hope that she will take on a US administration widely seen as hostile to the Palestinian cause.
“It’s a great honour for this small town. It’s a great honour for the Palestinian people to have Rashida in the Congress,” said Mohammad Tlaib, the village’s former mayor and a distant relative. “For sure she will serve Palestine, for sure she will serve the interests of her nation. She is deeply rooted here.”
The eldest of 14 children born to Palestinian immigrants in Detroit, the 42-year-old Tlaib said her grandfather emigrated from Palestine to Brazil during the US depression and eventually moved to Detroit.
Her father grew up in occupied East Jerusalem, she said. “When he was 19, he joined his father here. At 27, my grandmother grabbed him by the ear and took him to Palestine and said, ‘You are going to marry a good Arab woman.’”
In the West Bank, family members were jubilant as news of Tlaib’s victory came in. Relatives served baklava, a sweet pastry, and grapes, figs and cactus from their garden to visitors celebrating her win. Tlaib’s uncle and aunt were speaking with her mother Fatima, in Michigan. “Thank God,” her mother said. “This is for the Arabs and Muslims all over the world.”
Next US president?
She said that “God willing” her daughter will become the next US president. The first visitor was Mohammad Tlaib, the former mayor, who predicted his five-year-old daughter Jumana, will grow up to be like her American relative. “Look at her. She is beautiful, smart and strong like her. From now on, I will name her Rashida,” he said. The family’s story is typical of many Palestinians, with relatives scattered across the West Bank, Jordan and the US. Mohammad Tlaib said some 50 people from the small village have immigrated to the US and now have children in schools and universities in America.
“They have deep roots here. So we expect them to serve their occupied and embattled country there,” he said. Her aunt Fadwa Tlaib described her niece as a strong advocate for the weak. “She hates to see anyone take the rights of others. She empowered girls in the family,” she said.