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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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China’s Xi Jinping Will Visit Russia in 2025, Russian Ambassador Says

Chinese President Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, greets the audience at a meeting celebrating the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) and its handover to China and the inaugural ceremony of the sixth-term government of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) at the Macao East Asian Games Dome in Macao, China, 20 December 2024. (EPA/ Xinhua / Xie Huanchi)
Chinese President Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, greets the audience at a meeting celebrating the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) and its handover to China and the inaugural ceremony of the sixth-term government of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) at the Macao East Asian Games Dome in Macao, China, 20 December 2024. (EPA/ Xinhua / Xie Huanchi)
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China’s Xi Jinping Will Visit Russia in 2025, Russian Ambassador Says

Chinese President Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, greets the audience at a meeting celebrating the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) and its handover to China and the inaugural ceremony of the sixth-term government of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) at the Macao East Asian Games Dome in Macao, China, 20 December 2024. (EPA/ Xinhua / Xie Huanchi)
Chinese President Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, greets the audience at a meeting celebrating the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) and its handover to China and the inaugural ceremony of the sixth-term government of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) at the Macao East Asian Games Dome in Macao, China, 20 December 2024. (EPA/ Xinhua / Xie Huanchi)

China's President Xi Jinping will visit Russia in 2025, Russia's state-run RIA news agency quoted Moscow's ambassador to Beijing as saying early on Friday.

"As for concrete bilateral events, I can say that the appropriate plans are actively being drawn up," ambassador Igor Morgulov told RIA.

"What can be said that is no secret, in terms of priority, is that the chairman of the People's Republic of China is expected in Russia next year."

China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation from Reuters.

Putin visited China in February 2022, proclaiming a "no limits" partnership days before he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine. He was in Beijing again last May, after his re-election by a landslide, welcoming a "new era" of relations focusing on opposition to US policy.

Xi was received in the Kremlin as a "dear friend " in 2023 after he obtained an unprecedented third term in office.

Morgulov also told RIA that China, which has refrained from condemning Russia's 34-month-old war in Ukraine, understood the basis for the conflict "inasmuch as they are coming up against many of the same challenges -- the US and its allies are boosting pressure on China in the Asia-Pacific region".

NATO, he said, is "devising plans to move its military infrastructure" into the region.

Russia and China had to respond to US policy jointly, he said.

"In the international arena, it is up to our countries to respond further with a 'dual counter-action' to the 'dual deterrence' which the West is trying to pursue with regard to Russia and China," RIA quoted him as saying.

China, working with Brazil, has put forward a peace plan for the Ukraine war, calling for a freezing of battle lines and taking into account the security interests of both sides.

Russia has expressed support for the proposals.

Ukraine, which has proposed its own plans to end the conflict - the latest of which includes a request for NATO membership - has dismissed the China-Brazil initiative as serving Moscow's interests.

Russian forces currently occupy about 20% of Ukraine's territory and have recently been advancing at their fastest pace since the early days of the war.