Stop excusing the bigotry of Ilhan Omar
:ASHI1*TO1 ± ± /ast week, House Democratic leaders issued a rare Moint statement about comments by Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., declaring “Drawing false eTuivalencies between democracies like the U.S. and Israel and groups that engage in terrorism like Hamas and the Taliban foments preMudice.” But now House Speaker 1ancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is walking back that admonishment, telling C11 that “we did not rebuke her,” but rather, “acknowledged that she made a clarification” and added that Omar is a “valued member” of the House Democratic caucus.
A valued member? Omar is a bigot with a long history of making virulent antisemitic remarks. She has said that when she hears people call Israel a democracy “I almost chuckle,” that “Israel has hypnoti]ed the world” and that she prays that Allah will “awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.” She shared a cartoon on social media that was drawn by the second-place winner of Iran’s Holocaust denial cartoon contest. She supports the antisemitic BDS movement, which seeks the economic destruction of Israel, and introduced a resolution in Congress comparing a boycott of Israel to boycotting 1a]i *ermany and the Soviet Union. She said that U.S. support for Israel is “all about the BenMamins,” insinuating that Jews buy American influence. And she has said that politicians who support Israel “push for allegiance to a foreign country” ± accusing Israel supporters in Congress of dual loyalty, a classic antisemitic trope.
After that last comment, when House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, D-1.<., accused her of “a vile anti-Semitic slur,” Omar was unrepentant. “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,” she replied, doubling down on her dual-loyalty calumny.
So, her most recent invective was not an isolated comment that needed “clarification.” It was the latest in a long string of antisemitic diatribes that have disgraced the House Democratic caucus. Omar’s defenders respond by asking :hat about Rep. MarMorie Taylor *reene, R-*a.? *reene is a disgraceful conspiracy theorist who said “there’s never any evidence shown for a plane in the Pentagon” on 9 11, called the 2018 Parkland school shooting a false flag operation, speculated that California wildfires were caused by a Jewish space laser, and most recently compared mask mandates to the Holocaust a remark for which she, unlike Omar, apologi]ed on Monday after a visit to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum . But in February, the House’s Democratic maMority stripped *reene of her committee assignments. How can Democrats Mustify removing *reene from her committee assignments but not doing the same for Omar? :hen Rep. Steve .ing, R-Iowa, wondered publicly in 2019 why terms such as “white nationalist” and “white supremacist” had suddenly “become offensive,” Republicans stripped him of his committee assignments. Omar’s latest antisemitic outburst comes amid a surge in antisemitic violence in this country. :hy won’t Democrats hold her accountable for inflaming that violence? After all, when Republicans critici]ed President Barack Obama for refusing to call out “radical Islamic terrorism,” many on the left accused them of stoking anti-Muslim violence. :hen President Donald Trump referred to the “China virus,” the left said he was stoking anti-Asian violence. But when Omar says hateful things about Israel, no one suggests she is stoking antisemitic violence. In defending Omar, Pelosi said she “clarified” her latest comments. Please. Omar never apologi]ed instead she defended her remarks by claiming, “I was in no way eTuating terrorist organi]ations with democratic countries with well-established Mudicial systems.” Pelosi’s willingness to excuse the vile bigotry of Ilhan Omar is disgraceful. The fact that she needs the votes of Omar and her fellow STuad members in a narrowly divided House is no excuse. Democrats routinely chastise Republicans for putting power over principle, but then sacrifice principle when their own power is at stake. Pelosi is more than willing to police the ranks of the Republican Party ± but she shamefully tolerates antisemitism in the ranks of her own party.