US lawmaker Rashida Tlaib condemns cartoon showing her with exploding pager

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Palestinian American U.S. 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 militant 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 U.S. House of Representatives, is the lone Palestinian American lawmaker in the U.S. Congress. The Muslim American advocacy group Emgage Action, Democratic U.S. 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 U.S. ally.

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

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Will Dunham)