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US Lawmaker Rashida Tlaib Condemns Cartoon Showing Her with Exploding Pager

US Representative Rashida Tlaib, Democrat of Michigan, protests during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to a joint meeting of Congress at the US Capitol on July 24, 2024, in Washington, DC. (AFP)
US Representative Rashida Tlaib, Democrat of Michigan, protests during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to a joint meeting of Congress at the US Capitol on July 24, 2024, in Washington, DC. (AFP)
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US Lawmaker Rashida Tlaib Condemns Cartoon Showing Her with Exploding Pager

US Representative Rashida Tlaib, Democrat of Michigan, protests during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to a joint meeting of Congress at the US Capitol on July 24, 2024, in Washington, DC. (AFP)
US Representative Rashida Tlaib, Democrat of Michigan, protests during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to a joint meeting of Congress at the US Capitol on July 24, 2024, in Washington, DC. (AFP)

Palestinian American US lawmaker Rashida Tlaib on Friday condemned as racist a cartoon published in the conservative magazine National Review showing her with an exploding pager - a reference to an attack this week against members of the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

"Our community is already in so much pain right now. This racism will incite more hate + violence against our Arab & Muslim communities, and it makes everyone less safe. It's disgraceful that the media continues to normalize this racism," Tlaib wrote on the social media platform X.

Tlaib, a Democrat who represents a district from Michigan in the US House of Representatives, is the lone Palestinian American lawmaker in the US Congress.

The Muslim American advocacy group Emgage Action, Democratic US House members Cory Bush and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, some local officials in Michigan and human rights groups also criticized the cartoon.

National Review did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The cartoon, published on Thursday, showed a woman sitting next to an exploding pager. The woman's desk in the cartoon had a name card saying "Rep. Tlaib" while the woman herself is shown saying: "ODD. MY PAGER JUST EXPLODED."

The cartoon was created by Henry Payne, a Detroit News auto critic. Payne's X account titled the cartoon as "Tlaib Pager Hamas." The Detroit News said it was not involved in its creation and distribution, and chose not to run it.

Thousands of pagers used by members of Hezbollah in Lebanon exploded on Tuesday. That was followed a day later by the explosion of hand-held radios in Lebanon, with dozens killed and thousands wounded in the incidents.

Security sources have said Israel was responsible. Israel did not take responsibility.

Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-ruled enclave, and created a humanitarian crisis. Israel's assault followed an attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed 1,200 people and in which about 250 were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Tlaib has been a fierce critic of Israel's actions in the war and American support for the longtime US ally.

Human rights advocates have cited rising dehumanization of Arabs, Muslims and Jews amid the war.

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World

Russia Attacks Ukraine's Energy Supplies with Dozens of Missiles and Drones

A Ukrainian serviceman passes by a residential building damaged by Russian military strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the frontline town of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region, Ukraine March 6, 2025. REUTERS/Inna Varenytsia
A Ukrainian serviceman passes by a residential building damaged by Russian military strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the frontline town of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region, Ukraine March 6, 2025. REUTERS/Inna Varenytsia
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Russia Attacks Ukraine's Energy Supplies with Dozens of Missiles and Drones

A Ukrainian serviceman passes by a residential building damaged by Russian military strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the frontline town of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region, Ukraine March 6, 2025. REUTERS/Inna Varenytsia
A Ukrainian serviceman passes by a residential building damaged by Russian military strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the frontline town of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region, Ukraine March 6, 2025. REUTERS/Inna Varenytsia

Russia attacked Ukrainian energy facilities with dozens of missiles and drones during the night, officials said Friday, hobbling the country’s ability to deliver heat and light to its citizens and to power weapons factories vital to its defenses.
The overnight barrage — which also pounded residences and wounded at least 10 people — came days after the US suspended military aid and intelligence to Ukraine to pressure it into accepting a peace deal being pushed by the Trump administration. Without US intelligence, Ukraine’s ability to strike inside Russia and defend itself from bombardment is significantly diminished, The Associated Press aid.
Air-defense systems supplied by the West are crucial for Ukraine, but further US help is uncertain under President Donald Trump, who says he’s determined to end the war. European Union leaders, mindful they may need to shoulder more of the burden for arming Ukraine and strengthen their own defenses, agreed on a plan Thursday to significantly build up their military spending.
Ukraine is having a tough time on the battlefield. An onslaught by Russia’s bigger army is straining short-handed Ukrainian forces at places along the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line.
Officials from the US and Ukraine will meet in Saudi Arabia next week to discuss ending the war, which began more than three years ago when Russia launched a full-scale invasion. On Friday, President Trump said on social media he was “strongly considering” placing additional sanctions on Russia to force it into peace talks with Ukraine.
“To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late,” Trump said.
Ukraine came under a “massive missile and drone” attack overnight, Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko wrote on Facebook.
“Russia is trying to hurt ordinary Ukrainians by striking energy and gas production facilities, without abandoning its goal of leaving us without light and heat, and causing the greatest harm to ordinary citizens,” Halushchenko wrote.
Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s power grid during the war. The attacks have depleted electricity generation capacity and disrupted critical heating and water supplies. Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of “weaponizing winter” in an effort to erode civilian morale.
Zelenskyy on Friday won the support of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for Ukraine's proposals to take some first steps toward stopping the war, including a halt on firing missiles, drones and bombs at energy and other civilian infrastructure. Zelenskyy has also proposed ceasing combat operations in the Black Sea to allow safe shipping.
Erdogan said that he also wants the shooting to stop without delay.
“We support the idea of an immediate ceasefire and the cessation of attacks in the air and at sea as a confidence-building measure between the parties,” he said in a video call with European leaders.
Zelenskyy first suggested those initial steps in a post on X on Tuesday, when he said that he was ready to work under President Trump’s “strong leadership” to get a lasting peace.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that the energy supply is a legitimate target in the war, because it's “linked with Ukraine’s military industrial complex and weapons production.”
Russian air defenses downed 39 Ukrainian drones overnight, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
Ukraine’s largest private gas producer, DTEK, said that the overnight bombardment in the Odesa region was Russia’s sixth attack in the past two and a half weeks on its facilities. Its plants in two other regions were also struck.
Russia fired 67 missiles from air, land and sea, and launched 194 strike and decoy drones, Ukraine’s air force said. Their primary target was Ukraine’s natural gas extraction facilities, it said.
For the first time, Ukraine deployed French Mirage-2000 warplanes delivered a month ago to help repel the attack, according to the air force. Ukraine also has Western-supplied F-16 fighter jets to shoot down Russian missiles.
Ukrainian defenses downed 34 missiles and 100 drones, the air force said, while up to 10 missiles didn’t reach their targets and 86 drones were lost from radars, presumably jammed by electronic warfare.