Just weeks after she was forced to apologize for making anti-Semitic comments, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) is in hot water yet again.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and veteran Democrats will issue an unprecedented rebuke to Omar for another round of anti-Semitic remarks last week with a floor vote Wednesday on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism.
It’s the second time Pelosi and party leaders have had to step in to get Omar’s racism under control. But Republicans and Jewish groups say that the resolution is just a slap on the wrist.
Top Dems rebuke Omar again
While the draft of the resolution doesn’t mention Omar by name, it does refer to the tropes she has trafficked in, specifically condemning “myths of dual loyalties” and other anti-Semitic canards. The resolution recounts historic incidents of anti-Semitism including the recent Tree of Life synagogue shooting, and obliquely refers to Omar’s comments by condemning “anti-Semitic myths” of Jewish conspiracy.
Last month, Democratic leadership was forced to address the growing anti-Semitism within their ranks when Omar accused the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) of buying off the loyalty of American lawmakers with “Benjamins” in a series of tweets that she has since quietly deleted. She apologized under pressure from Pelosi and Republicans, but many considered her apology shallow at the time.
Just weeks after she claimed to unequivocally reject anti-Semitism, Omar again accused Israel supporters of “allegiance to a foreign country” while speaking at a Washington, D.C. bookstore Wednesday. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) has made similar remarks about alleged double allegiances.
“I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it’s OK to push for allegiance to a foreign country,” Omar said.
Omar said that critics assume anti-Israel comments made by herself and Tlaib to be anti-Semitic because of their Islamic faith, adding that critics just want to shut down the discussion whenever Israel is criticized. However, the trope of “double loyalty” is a classic anti-Semitic dog-whistle accusing Jews of placing Israel over their homes countries.
Anti-Semitism embroils Dems
The anti-Semitism controversy surrounding Omar reveals the rift between mainstream Democrats who hold more conventional positions on America’s relationship with Israel and the progressive upstarts who have expressed opposition to Israel in radical, incendiary, and sometimes racist rhetoric. While leftist freshmen like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Tlaib have backed Omar, the party leadership is struggling to put anti-Israel Democrats from the progressive wing in their place.
Omar’s comments prompted staffers for Pelosi and other Democrats, including Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), to draft the resolution. According to Politico, Pelosi and top Democrats haven’t decided whether to name Omar in it, but several Democratic lawmakers did publicly rebuke her and demanded an apology over the weekend. Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) called out Omar for “mischaracterizing Israel” with “hurtful” rhetoric. Engel, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee on which Omar sits, also rebuked her “vile anti-Semitic slur.”
These rebukes only led Omar to get defensive. “Our democracy is built on debate, Congresswoman!” Omar wrote, responded. “I have not mischaracterized our relationship with Israel, I have questioned it and that has been clear from my end,” adding, “I am told every day that I am anti-American if I am not pro-Israel. I find that to be problematic and I am not alone. I just happen to be willing to speak up on it and open myself to attacks.”
Not far enough?
Three weeks ago, Pelosi condemned Omar’s anti-Semitism in no uncertain terms, but it doesn’t seem to have worked. While this second rebuke is welcome, Republicans and Jewish groups aren’t convinced that it goes far enough.
“Resolutions are all well and good, but Speaker Pelosi is clearly afraid to stand up to Rep. Omar if she continues to reward her with a plum spot on the Foreign Affairs Committee,” House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) wrote on Twitter Monday.
When Omar apologized under pressure, many were rightly skeptical that the lawmaker who once said that Jews “hypnotized the world” had a change of heart, and President Donald Trump called for her to resign. Republicans and numerous Israel groups have been seeking her removal from the Foreign Affairs Committee, something Democrats who have criticized Omar’s comments have been shy to support.
Fox reported that Democrats might delay the resolution vote over uncertainty on whether to name Omar and how exactly to rebuke her.
It shouldn’t be hard. Will Pelosi make things right, or just give Omar another slap on the wrist?
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