Rep. Omar’s comments force Democrats to act on anti-Semitism measure
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Rep. Omar’s comments force Democrats to act on anti
A string of allegedly anti-Semitic public comments from freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar has enraged fellow Democrats and forced Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top House leaders to take fresh action against one of the early stars of the freshman class.
Lawmakers could vote as soon as Wednesday on a House resolution condemning anti-Semitism prompted by comments Omar (Minn.) made last week at an event where she suggested that supporters of Israel’s government have an “allegiance to a foreign country.”
The draft resolution “acknowledges the dangerous consequences of perpetuating anti-Semitic stereotypes” and “rejects anti-Semitism as hateful expressions of intolerance that are contradictory to the values that define the people of the United States.” But it does not specifically rebuke Omar.
But just days earlier, Omar had rekindled a firestorm over her criticism of Israel through comments on the motivations of the nation’s U.S. supporters. “I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is okay for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country,” Omar said at the event, held Wednesday at a Washington restaurant that frequently hosts left-wing artists and activists.
According to critics, Omar’s comments played into a long-standing attack that Jews cannot be considered loyal citizens of their home countries — and they came after two previous occasions where Omar apologized for making comments with anti-Semitic overtones in the course of criticizing Israeli government policy.
“The idea that certain members of Congress seemingly believe it is acceptable to use historic anti-Semitic tropes accusing Jews of dual loyalty, despite the broad condemnation of the entire House Democratic leadership, is beyond me,” said Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), who has been involved in crafting the resolution. He called Omar’s rhetoric “reminiscent of other hurtful episodes in our history, including when President John F. Kennedy’s loyalty was called into question simply because he was Irish Catholic.”
Omar apologized in January for a 2012 tweet in which she said Israel had “hypnotized the world” and apologized again last month after suggesting on Twitter that Israel’s supporters were motivated by campaign contributions. That prompted the House to add Republican-offered language to a recent measure on the “importance of combating anti-Semitism.”
The most immediate fallout from Omar’s remarks stand to play out within the Democratic caucus. The latest episode could widen the breach between the party’s traditional supporters of Israel, who include Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (Md.), and liberals who are critical of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian population within its borders and want Congress to take a more skeptical view of the U.S.-Israel relationship.
That split has helped drive the response to Omar’s latest remarks. A small group of stalwart Democratic Israel allies, including Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot L. Engel (N.Y.) and Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita M. Lowey (N.Y.), as well as Gottheimer, Rep. Ted Deutch (Fla.) and others, worked through the weekend to craft the resolution and push leaders for its passage.
Engel on Friday called it “unacceptable and deeply offensive to call into question the loyalty of fellow American citizens because of their political views, including support for the U.S.-Israel relationship.”
“Her comments were outrageous and deeply hurtful, and I ask that she retract them, apologize and commit to making her case on policy issues without resorting to attacks that have no place in the Foreign Affairs Committee or the House of Representatives,” he said.
I may not agree with Omar's comments but anti-zionism != anti-semitism ffs
Besides, statistically don't white evangelicals support Israel more than American Jews do? Why does the word Israel make every politician's brain shut off?
Israel is the virtue signal both sides compete over. Or at least it used to be before part of America's right slammed hard to the right and ended up bumping shoulders with actual nazis.
I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country. I want to ask, 'Why is it OK for me to talk about the influence of the [National Rifle Association], or fossil fuel industries or Big Pharma, and not talk about a powerful lobbying group that is influencing policy?'
is this all she said? I've had to go to like 3 different articles just to find more than one sentence
like idk dog if you're too fucking stupid to differentiate between "lobbyist groups are bad" and "people who do things lobbyist groups agree with are insurgent traitors" then maybe you shouldn't be in politics
Ilhan Omar is not being anti Semitic. She’s being smeared because it’s not permissible in DC to have an open dialogue questioning AIPAC or America’s relationship with Israel.
Israel has our government by the balls and it’s pathetic
oh shit was that anti-Semitic? Better apologize
it's hard to take the charge of anti-semitism seriously when Steve King is still in congress
and a lot of the backlash seems to be coming from republicans
That prompted the House to add Republican-offered language to a recent measure on the “importance of combating anti-Semitism.”
Main issue is that this
I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country.
is seen as violating this example from the international definition of antisemitism
Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.
This was brought up in another recent thread about France adopting that definition, and it is clear that the whole thing is just a screen to allow Israel to do whatever the hell it wants. Any criticism of the state or its meddling in foreign countries' affairs becomes antisemitic under those terms, simply because you can't talk about a Jewish state without implicating individual Jews in the process. Obviously someone working in a lobbying group on behalf of another nation has some loyalty to that nation, but you can't bring that up without violating ~the rules~.
Except she's not calling out Jews, she's calling out aggressive supporters of Israel. In America that is AIPAC followed by white evangelicals, and then maybe the collective population of American Jews at best in third place.
This is screaming terrorist in a crowded theatre because you don't want the movie to be screened.
Attention AIPAC, in the most respectful way possible I would like you to eat a dumpster full of kosher dicks.
This is so politically motivated its disgusting, you can have our president make racist remarks and get off scott-free cause hes "saying it as it is"
Calling Israel out for its bullshit is racism though
it's worth noting that Omar won her district with something like 70% of the vote. the previous rep was Keith Ellison
So she's probably not going anywhere, she's doing her job to represent her constituents.
