In a glowing profile of representative-elect Ilhan Omar, the New York Times portrays her critics as merely scared of somebody different, all the while glossing over her misrepresentation of her position on Israel and record of unapologetically peddling anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
The article depicts Omar, who is set to take over the seat previously held by Rep. Keith Ellison, as somebody defiant in the face of prejudice.
It starts off with an anecdote of her getting bullied as a 12 year-old Somali immigrant in Virginia and her father telling her, “They are doing something to you because they feel threatened in some way by your existence.”
That becomes a framing device for the story, which is an attempt to discredit her critics by lumping them all together with racists and conspiracy mongers.
The Times describes Omar as “a vehicle for the hopes of millions of Muslims and others touched by her life story, and for the fears of those who feel threatened by her.”
According to one professor quoted in the article, “She’s the epitome of the so-called American dream, but for much of white Christian America, she’s an American nightmare.”
Somehow, the fact that she’s received criticism for her views on Israel and Jews gets lumped between a Christian pastor railing against her hijab and a Saudi conspiracy theory:
Her support for the boycott, divest and sanctions movement to pressure Israel to improve treatment of Palestinians is making Jewish leaders nervous. In Saudi Arabia, a state-owned newspaper recently suggested she was part of an Islamist plot to control Congress.
Later, the Times refers to “some Jewish leaders feeling betrayed” by her “clarification” of her support for the movement to boycott, divest, and sanction Israel.
This completely papers over what happened. In reality, Omar was asked point blank at a candidate forum in August to clarify her position on the BDS movement. She said, “I believe right now with the BDS movement, it’s not helpful in getting that two-state solution.” Once elected, she then came out and said she did support BDS. That’s quite the “clarification.”
What’s worse, the Times ignores another source of criticism. In a 2012 tweet she has never deleted or apologized for, she claimed “Israel has hypnotized the world.”
Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel. #Gaza #Palestine #Israel
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) November 16, 2012
The idea of there being a conspiracy theory in which Jews exert some sort of mystical powers of control over events to the detriment of the world has been at the heart of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories for years. Yet the Times decided to completely ignore this, perhaps because doing so might actually show that Omar critics have a point, and that they’re not simply motivated by racism or fear of somebody different. It would show that for all of Omar’s talk of being made to feel her “otherness,” she is perfectly content to “other” minorities, as long as they’re only Jews.
This is just the latest demonstration that the Times is perfectly comfortable excusing anti-Semitism as long as it’s coming from the Left and masked as mere criticism of Israel.
[Also read: Far-left Democratic freshmen are already getting leadership roles]
