Looking
on the Bright Side of Ilhan Omar's Anti-Semitism
IPT News
February 11, 2019
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 Criticism and
condemnation rained down on U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar Monday after she tweeted "It's all about the Benjamins baby"
to explain why she and fellow Democrat Rashida Tlaib draw attention for
their "criticisms of Israel."
Who is the source of this slang reference to cash? "AIPAC!"
Omar added,
referring to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
It's the latest in a series of statements by Omar, tarnishing her status
as the first Somali immigrant and one of the first two Muslim women elected
to Congress. During a 2012 war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Omar complained
that Israel "hypnotized the world" and prayed that "Allah
[would] awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel."
Given Omar's own words, then, Israel and its supporters have the eerie
power to cloud people's minds. And when that doesn't work, they've got all
that Jewish money to buy people off.
All of these offending statements remain on her Twitter feed.
Plenty of people have tried to defend Omar. The Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR) issued
a statement Monday acknowledging that anti-Semitism is real, but Omar
hasn't engaged in it. The real bad actors, to CAIR, are Israel's
supporters. "CAIR applauds Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib for
their courage in speaking the truth about Israel's racial, religious and
ethnic segregation. Agenda-driven groups -- like AIPAC -- have for decades
enabled that segregation and the resulting denial of human rights for
Christian and Muslim Palestinians."
Thankfully, the House Democratic Leadership properly rejected that
thinking and any semantic debate in a statement
issued Monday afternoon. Omar's comments are anti-Semitic, the statement
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other leaders said in its headline.
"Legitimate criticism of Israel's policies is protected by the
values of free speech and democratic debate that the United States and
Israel share," the statement said. "But Congresswoman Omar's use
of anti-Semitic tropes and prejudicial accusations about Israel's
supporters is deeply offensive. We condemn these remarks and we call upon
Congresswoman Omar to immediately apologize for these hurtful comments."
And she did later Monday afternoon, with a "yeah,
but" clause: "Anti-Semitism is real and I am grateful for Jewish
allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of
anti-Semitic tropes," she wrote. "My intention is never to offend
my constituents or Jewish Americans as a whole. We have to always be
willing to step back and think through criticism, just as I expect people
to hear me when others attack me for my identity. This is why I
unequivocally apologize."
But then she equivocated, saying she has a problem with "lobbyists
in our politics," including AIPAC.
Her message was strikingly similar to an apology she made last month about Israel hypnotizing the world. She
had no idea that claiming a mystical power to control
the earth "was offensive." She is "not criticizing the
people ... their way of life," she said on the "Daily Show."
 After the initial
storm from Sunday's "Benjamins" and "AIPAC!" tweets,
Omar retweeted several people standing up for her. One, HuffPost writer Ashley
Feinberg, wrote that "accurately describing how the Israel
lobby works is not anti-semitism." Less than 24 hours later, Omar
apologized, acknowledging the reality of anti-Semtism. What does she really
believe?
She seems to admit she has a lot to learn about basic elements of
religious bigotry. It raises the question whether the influential Foreign
Affairs Committee is the best place to sit while pursuing that education.
Still, it's a mistake to dismiss Omar's statements as poorly worded
"criticisms" of Israel by a political novice. She was savvy
enough to advocate a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
during her primary campaign last summer. She also said she opposed the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divest and
Sanction (BDS) movement that aims to isolate Israel economically and
socially during her primary campaign. BDS wasn't helpful in reaching that
two-state solution, she said.
Once safely elected, however, she reversed course, with her office saying
she "believes in and supports the BDS movement."
In December, we thanked Zahra Billoo, one of CAIR's most strident
voices, for her candor. Billoo will come right and say she doesn't believe
Israel has a right to exist. So when she says,
"From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," there's no
room for doubt that she wants the world rid of its only Jewish state.
In some ways, Omar is bringing that same level of candor to Washington.
It is abhorrent and hateful, but it helps pull the veneer off so many
voices which claim they merely oppose Israeli policies, or criticize its
government. The basic ideology is the same – Israel stands alone as the
problem. Israel alone must be ostracized and condemned. Hamas, Hizballah
and Iranian clerics who devote millions of dollars to destroying the Jewish
state instead of investing in ways to improve life for Palestinians, merit
no mention.
Remember that the next time Ilhan Omar apologizes for something else she
needs to learn.
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