In a classic diversionary tactic, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who has consistently peddled anti-Semitism along with her colleague, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., is now claiming that both of them, “have been fighting against Anti-semitism” and that “any effort to deny that is a smear.”
My sister Rashida and I have been fighting against Anti-semitism, any effort to deny that is a smear.
We are pro-peace and realize without justice there is no peace!
Our domestic policy values need to be aligned with our foreign policy values. No exceptions! https://t.co/fKO5eYu8gb
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 5, 2019
This is the height of audacity.
Omar would like people to believe that her support for policies such as boycotting Israel are rooted in mere policy disagreements with the Jewish state. But her statements go much further. Omar has written, “Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.” This represents a classic anti-Semitic trope about Jews using their power to exert a mystical and nefarious influence on world affairs.
Just last week, she said, it made her “almost chuckle” when people describe Israel, a Jewish state, as a democracy, “because I know that if … we see that in any other society we would criticize it.” She continued, “We do that to Iran, to any other place that sort of upholds its religion.”
This is completely preposterous on so many levels. Setting aside the argument for why Jews, after thousands of years of persecution, would be justified in establishing a state in which they are in charge of guaranteeing their own security, the comparison to Iran makes no sense. Israel has a secular democratically elected government in free and fair elections. Iran is ruled by religious leaders, who hand-pick candidates and control election outcomes.
Tlaib, Omar’s “sister,” has also spent the last several months elevating anti-Semitic arguments. The Michigan Democrat, at a swearing-in party, was photographed with a Palestinian activist who praised the terrorist group Hezbollah, said Israel did not have the right to exist, and has called for Israeli “Zionist terrorist” Jews to return to Poland, where roughly three million Jews were killed during the Holocaust.
Tlaib defended Marc Lamont Hill after CNN fired him for comments in which he called for the elimination of Israel and endorsed violent “resistance” against Jews. She also unleashed an anti-Semitic dual loyalty smear targeting those pushing anti-BDS legislation.
Omar’s tweet is clearly not trying to convince any of her or Tlaib’s doubters, but it serves two purposes.
The first is that by trying to portray all legitimate criticism of their bigoted statements as a “smear,” she is playing the victim card to friendly outlets, leading to absurd headlines like this one from the New York Times: “From Celebrated to Vilified, House’s Muslim Women Absorb Blows Over Israel.”
The second is to shame all liberals into embracing her hostile view toward Israel, “Our domestic policy values need to be aligned with our foreign policy values. No exceptions!” It’s the kind of argument advanced by Linda Sarsour, one of the anti-Semitic founders of the Women’s March, who argued that somebody cannot be a feminist and also a Zionist. This essentially boils down to, if you have liberal policy views, you can’t make a special carve out to support Israel — you have to be steadfast in opposition. Tlaib and Omar are fighting a battle for the younger generation of liberals in hopes of turning the Democratic Party away from support for Israel.
