It is apparent from her parents’ history that they made no effort to assimilate into American Anglo-Saxon culture. They had fourteen (14) children, which is very typical of Palestinian Arab culture in the Middle East. Most likely Ms. Tlaib’s parents are cousins. Consanguineous marriage is also very typical of Palestinian Arab culture in the Middle East. Her marriage was very evidently an arranged marriage to one of her cousins. Even her first name is quite common in the Arab Muslim Middle East. Whatever assimilation Ms. Tlaib achieved here in the U.S., it’s cosmetic. She is truly a victim of her upbringing with the exception of her divorce. Bravo, Ms. Tlaib finally joined Western culture by divorcing her husband and prioritizing her career as a woman. Had she married a man of her own choice here in the U.S., she probably would still be married. It’s unfortunate that she fell prey to her parents’ wishes that she continue her heritage and culture in spite of being raised and born in a Western culture. Because she continues to be a victim of her upbringing, she’s destroying her career and imploding. When I was conducting fieldwork in the Arab territories of Israel, I was constantly reminded by the Palestinian Arab men: “When in Rome act like a Roman.” Ms. Tlaib should also take this advice, especially since it is coming from her own men in Israel. Ms. Tlaib was born and raised in the U.S. and should respect the feelings and rights of others as an American, since that’s what she technically is. She has failed miserably. Her parents did her a disservice, which extremely domineering and dominant parents do. Many of my Palestinian Arab friends — all men, by the way — lives were ruined by the elders of their families. I attempted to help two of these men obtain a university education and immigrate to the U.S., but failed. One ended up marrying his first cousin with devastating consequences of male babies born with numerous autosomal conditions. Luckily, he followed my advice and obtained his Israeli citizenship. (The Palestinian Arabs of East Jerusalem were allowed to obtain Israeli citizenship up until 1988, when the Israelis agreed to negotiate with the Fatah leadership of the PLO and granted the leaders like Arafat to return to the territories. That’s when many Palestinians, who were considered “collaborators” by their own people, were allowed to either obtain Israeli citizenship or automatic U.S. citizenship. Many of these Palestinian Arab men had spent time in Israeli prisons for selling illicit drugs. Both the Israeli and American authorities wiped their records clean to enable them to gain automatic citizenship in the U.S. Another one of my friends has been living as an American in the U.S., since 1988. He parted ways with his family in East Jerusalem by marrying a non-Muslim woman, who is university educated — and obviously, not Arab. When I met him in East Jerusalem, he was always with the German and Dutch girls. He always culturally aspired to being European and American. Even his clothes were European and American — quite expensive, but with his drug dealing, he could afford these clothes. He always had his own apartment and lived separately from his parents. He is the antithesis of Ms. Tlaib and her parents. Her parents fooled the immigration authorities here in the U.S. Boy, did they put on a good show! One of the Palestinian Arabs I helped to immigrate to the U.S. turned on me, causing me to run to the main headquarters of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization authorities in NYC. I felt like such a fool. One of my brothers came with me to the financial district of Manhattan. As soon as I walked up to the entrance and told an employee my reason for appearing on their front doorstep, I was immediately led upstairs to a very large room with multiple desks. Each desk was occupied by an immigration lawyer. The lawyer, who helped me, was a very nice man and extremely understanding. He literally undid everything I had done in a matter of 30 minutes. When I informed him that the young man in question had married his first cousin, he assured me that this young male would never ever be allowed to enter the U.S, Now, the Israelis are stuck with him and his extremely sick and deformed sons, who are being studied at the Hadassah-Hebrew University Hospital in Ein Kerem. The medical doctors and geneticists were really excited to get a live one to study inbreeding or close-breeding. The Jews in Eastern Europe also practiced consanguineous marriage, because they were isolated by the visceral anti-Semitism. In the Middle East, this inbreeding is by choice among the Arabs due to their tribalism. By having access to this Palestinian Arab family, the science community in Israel is actually benefitting. While the Israeli Arabs’ and Jews’ hard-earned taxes are supporting this man, his first cousin (wife), and surviving first-born daughter, the scientists are able to use them to learn about various genetic and hereditary diseases. I understand from where Ms. Tlaib is coming, but she really does an enormous disservice to her own people. Her behavior is extremely counterproductive. Her parents indoctrinated her very well — and it’s ruining her.
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