Ilhan Omar Knows Exactly What She Is Doing

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There is absolutely no doubt that she is an anti-Semite, but as with Corbyn's Labour Party many will choose to deny it.

There are no threadbans, even for Crypiss.

There’s an old joke about upper-class British anti-Semitism: It means someone who hates Jews more than is strictly necessary. Ilhan Omar, the freshman representative from Minnesota, more than meets the progressive American version of that standard.

Like many self-described progressives, Omar does not like Israel. That’s a shame, not least because Israel is the only country in its region that embraces the sorts of values the Democratic Party claims to champion. When was the last time there was a gay-pride parade in Ramallah, a women’s rights march in Gaza, or an opposition press in Tehran? In what Middle Eastern country other than Israel can an attorney general indict a popular and powerful prime minister on corruption charges?

But America is a free country, and Omar is within her rights to think what she will about Israel or any other state. Contrary to a self-serving myth among Israel’s detractors, there’s rarely a social or reputational penalty for publicly criticizing Israeli policies today. It’s ubiquitous on college campuses and commonplace in editorial pages. And contrary to some recent comments from Senator Elizabeth Warren, no serious person claims criticism of Israel is ipso facto anti-Semitic. My last column called on Benjamin Netanyahu to resign. Last I checked, the Anti-Defamation League has not denounced me.

Omar, however, isn’t just a critic of Israel. As the joke has it, her objections to the Jewish state go well beyond what’s strictly necessary.

“Israel has hypnotized the world,” she tweeted in 2012. “May Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.” Last month, she wrote that U.S. support for Israel was “all about the Benjamins baby.” A few weeks after that, she told an audience in D.C. that “I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is O.K. to push for allegiance to a foreign country.” Confronted with criticism about the remark from her fellow Democrat Nita Lowey, she replied: “I should not be expected to have allegiance/pledge support to a foreign country in order to serve my country in Congress or serve on committee.”

Under intense pressure, Omar recanted those first two tweets. But she’s standing her ground on her more recent comments. It’s a case study in the ease with which strident criticism of Israel shades into anti-Semitism.

For those who don’t get it, claims that Israel “hypnotizes” the world, or that it uses money to bend others to its will, or that its American supporters “push for allegiance to a foreign country,” repackage falsehoods commonly used against Jews for centuries. People can debate the case for Israel on the merits, but those who support the state should not have to face allegations that their sympathies have been purchased, or their brains hijacked, or their loyalties divided.

It’s also a case study in the insidious cunning and latent power of anti-Jewish bigotry— proof that anti-Semitism is not, after all, merely the socialism of fools. Omar, I suspect, knows exactly what she is doing. She pleads ignorance when it suits her, saying she was unaware that her references to hypnosis and “Benjamins” might be considered offensive. Or she wraps herself in the flag, sounding almost like Pat Buchanan when he called Congress “Israeli-occupied” territory. Or she invokes free speech, telling Lowey “our democracy is built on debate” — as if the debate she wants to force is as innocuous as a dispute over a spending bill.

As the criticism of Omar mounts, it becomes that much easier for her to seem like the victim of a smear campaign, rather than the instigator of a smear. The secret of anti-Semitism has always rested, in part, on creating the perception that the anti-Semite is, in fact, the victim of the Jews and their allies. Just which powers-that-be are orchestrating that campaign? Why are they afraid of open debate? And what about all the bigotry on their side?

The goal is not to win the argument, at least not anytime soon. Yet merely by refusing to fold, Omar stands to shift the range of acceptable discussion — the so-called Overton window — sharply in her direction. Ideas once thought of as intellectually uncouth and morally repulsive have suddenly become merely controversial. It’s how anti-Zionism has abruptly become an acceptable point of view in reputable circles. It’s why anti-Semitism is just outside the frame, bidding to get in.

House Democrats are now wrangling over the text of a resolution that was initially intended as a condemnation of anti-Semitism, with Omar as its implicit target. At this writing it is mired in predictable controversy, as members of the party’s progressive wing and black caucus rally to Omar’s side in the first open challenge to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s leadership. In the Senate, the presidential hopefuls Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders and Warren have weighed in with statements that painted Omar as a victim of Islamophobia — which she is — without mentioning that she’s also a purveyor of anti-Semitic bigotry — which she surely is as well.

It says something about the progressive movement today that it has no trouble denouncing Republican racism, real and alleged, every day of the week but has so much trouble calling out a naked anti-Semite in its own ranks. This is how progressivism becomes Corbynism. It’s how the left finds its own path toward legitimizing hate. It’s how self-declared anti-fascists develop their own forms of fascism.

If Pelosi can’t muster a powerful and unequivocal resolution condemning anti-Semitism, then Omar will have secured her political future and won a critical battle for the soul of the Democratic Party. At that point, the days when American Jews can live comfortably within the Democratic fold will be numbered.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/07/o...-semitism.html

[Jack]

1. Russian 'collusion' is in the News. Seems like an appropriate time to bring up other 'collusions'.
2. I've noticed when 'Israel' is brought up, there is an immediate call of 'anti-semitism'.

Questioning the influence of Israeli money on US Government Policies is legitimate. Being called a 'Jew-hater' can be expected when this is brought up.

[cancel2 2022]

1. Russian 'collusion' is in the News. Seems like an appropriate time to bring up other 'collusions'.
2. I've noticed when 'Israel' is brought up, there is an immediate call of 'anti-semitism'.

Questioning the influence of Israeli money on US Government Policies is legitimate. Being called a 'Jew-hater' can be expected when this is brought up.

Far be for you to actually address any of the points in the article, much easier to just go for the low blow instead. Well at least Doris thanked you, so you're in her good books fella!! Don't suppose you noticed that the article was from the NYT?

[Jack]

Far be for you to actually address any of the points in the article, much easier to just go for the low blow instead. Well at least Doris thanked you, so you're in her good books fella!! Don't suppose you noticed that the article was from the NYT?

I just read your excerpt and responded to that.

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I just read your excerpt and responded to that.

Skirted and skimped would be more approriate than read, we are having exactly this debate about anti-Semitism in Corbyn's Labour party, which the article also mentioned.

[Jack]

Skirted and skimped would be more approriate than read, we are having exactly this debate about anti-Semitism in Corbyn's Labour party, which the article also mentioned.

Cool.

[cancel2 2022]

I just read your excerpt and responded to that.

Read the whole thing, there's a good chap!!

[dukkha]

“Israel has hypnotized the world,” she tweeted in 2012. “May Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.” Last month, she wrote that U.S. support for Israel was “all about the Benjamins baby.” A few weeks after that, she told an audience in D.C. that “I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is O.K. to push for allegiance to a foreign country.” Confronted with criticism about the remark from her fellow Democrat Nita Lowey, she replied: “I should not be expected to have allegiance/pledge support to a foreign country in order to serve my country in Congress or serve on committee.”

Under intense pressure, Omar recanted those first two tweets. But she’s standing her ground on her more recent comments. It’s a case study in the ease with which strident criticism of Israel shades into anti-Semitism.

Omar's a shithole Somali beech -
why does SHE get to wear a hijab ( and they are high class fashion statements)
when every member of Congress observes the no head gear tradition?

J. Pirro called her out on Sharia - which she couldn't prove.but you can at least see her fanatical Islam
with her words

[Jack]

Read the whole thing, there's a good chap!!

I read your excerpt, that was enough for me.

[cancel2 2022]

Is that it? I didn't threadban anyone yet the usual suspects are conspicuous by their absence.

[Althea]

I'm not subscribing to NYT in order to see who wrote the piece.

The author purposely twists the issue. She doesn't criticize Israel per se. She criticizes American lawmakers who receive AIPAC support, or to be more specific, succumb to AIPAC lobbying pressure. Tens of millions of dollars were spent in the mid terms by pro Israel PACS. The majority going to Democrats.

Which is why Democrats rush to pretend that Omar is wrong on the issue. In public, they cannot take the chance that the Jewish demographic in this nation will stay home during elections. Israel was against the Iran Nuke deal. Schumer had to denounce it publicly, but certainly didn't lobby against it privately.


Why is this any different than legislators who are owned by Monsanto?

THAT'S the point she makes.

[cancel2 2022]

I'm not subscribing to NYT in order to see who wrote the piece.

The author purposely twists the issue. She doesn't criticize Israel per se. She criticizes American lawmakers who receive AIPAC support, or to be more specific, succumb to AIPAC lobbying pressure. Tens of millions of dollars were spent in the mid terms by pro Israel PACS. The majority going to Democrats.

Which is why Democrats rush to pretend that Omar is wrong on the issue. In public, they cannot take the chance that the Jewish demographic in this nation will stay home during elections. Israel was against the Iran Nuke deal. Schumer had to denounce it publicly, but certainly didn't lobby against it privately.


Why is this any different than legislators who are owned by Monsanto?

THAT'S the point she makes.

The author is Bret L. Stephens, so you can scurry off and see if you can dig up any dirt on him. He was awarded the 2013 Pulitzer Commentary Prize but I doubt if you want to know that.

https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/bret-stephens

[canceled.2021.1]

Omar is an Islamist

Now why would an Islamist feel at home in the democrat party? Much like the KKK did with Robert Byrd

[Althea]

The author is Bret L. Stephens, so you can scurry off and see if you can dig up any dirt on him. He was awarded the 2013 Pulitzer Commentary Prize but I doubt if you want to know that.

https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/bret-stephens

I don't need to research him. He, like so many others, is focused on the wrong issue. Of course, you would have to understand the U.S history of the region in general. Best if you started at the end of WW2, when oil was discovered under all of the sand.

From there, the rest is self evident.

Extra credit if you offer an opinion on the refusal of the U.S to take in Jewish refugees who were fleeing Hitler.

[Bourbon]

So does Donald Trump