AFP Corrects: Rashida Tlaib Isn’t First Palestinian-American in Congress

August 26, 2024

CAMERA’s Israel office yesterday prompted correction of an Agence France Presse article which incorrectly identified Rep. Rashida Tlaib as “the first Palestinian-American in Congress” (Aug. 25, “Can Harris win back Michigan’s crucial Muslim vote?,” 1:20 am GMT). (See the Wayback archive for the uncorrected version.)

Rep. Tlaib (Photo by SecretName101, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

While Tlaib is the first Palestinian-American woman in the House, she is not the first Palestinian-American representative. Congressman Justin Amash, whose father is Palestinian, served in the House from 2011 to 2021. Before them Republican John E. Sununu served in the House of Representatives from 1997 to 2003. His father descends from Greek Orthodox Christians from Jerusalem.
And the very first Palestinian member of Congress—albeit someone who was not Palestinian Arab—was John Hans Krebs, who served in California’s 17th district from 1974-79. Krebs was born in Berlin and moved to Mandate Palestine as a child in 1933.
AFP editors agreed with CAMERA that a correction is in order, and amended the copy to accurately identify Tlaib as “the first Palestinian-American woman in Congress.” Yahoo also subsequently corrected, and the accurate version was reproduced in numerous local news outlets across the United States including OC Today-Dispatch, The Advocate & Democrat, and The San Francisco Examiner.
Media outlets which have previously corrected the identical error include Reuters,  Haaretz and the Hill.

 

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