Omar’s antisemitism doesn’t belong here

House Speaker Kevin Mccarthy has made good on his promise to try to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Despite backlash from Democrats and even a few conservatives, we must make it clear that Omar does not deserve to sit on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Antisemitic vitriol, which she has spewed numerous times in her official capacity as Congresswoman, has no place in American society and should not be rewarded with a position of authority. We must not allow antisemitism to reside in the heart of Congress.

In a 2019 series of tweets, Omar evoked the ancient and still prevalent antisemitic trope of Jewish money when she wrote that “Benjamins” from AIPAC, the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, were responsible for consistent U.S. support for the Israeli people. This remark brought criticism from the left and the right.

Although she issued a half-hearted apology, she didn’t apologize to members of Congress like myself who have wholeheartedly supported Israel in Congress. Her unretracted slur against us is that we support Israel and the long- oppressed Jewish people for money and not because it is the right thing to do.

Last Congress, Omar compared the U.S. and Israel to the Taliban, stating: “We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban. I asked @Secblinken where people are supposed to go for justice.”

It is bad enough that Rep. Omar puts America and Israel in the same breath as the Taliban and Hamas. But to further allege the commission of “unthinkable atrocities,” where none exist, only provides ammunition to those promoting violence against Jews.

Not content with allegations of “unthinkable atrocities,” Congresswoman Omar further claimed that the U.S. was “underwriting crimes against humanity,” implying such crimes were being committed by Israel against the Palestinian people. Israeli defense against indiscriminate rocket fire lobbed by Palestinians into apartment blocks, day care facilities and other clearly civilian targets is not a crime. To insinuate that Israel is committing such crimes, again without evidence, serves only to provide cover for actual terrorists.

The Democrats and their leadership made a grievous error when they once again placed Omar on the House Foreign Affairs Committee this Congress.

Granting Omar a seat on this powerful and wide-reaching committee provides her a world stage from which she can continue to spread her antisemitic hatred. This misrepresents to the world the strong bipartisan support for Israel in Congress and in the United States.

I fully support a vote to remove Congresswoman Omar from her spot on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. To be clear, I only support a targeted and specific measure to remove her from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. I am not in favor of removing the congresswoman from all her other committee assignments — just the one that affords her the greatest microphone with which to spread her antisemitism.

When Democrats in the last Congress removed Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from all of her committee assignments for controversial comments, including suggesting that Omar “go back to the Middle East,” it was a broad and sweeping penalty intended to politically damage those representatives in the eyes of their constituents. It was not an action targeted on a single committee, as is the case with Rep. Omar. There is no comparison. Similarly, Rep. Paul Gosar was removed from all of his committees after posting an animated video showing a cartoon character killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez.

But this measure is applicable only to Omar. The rest of her cohorts in “The Squad”, such as Ocasio- Cortez, are equally guilty of making antisemitic statements as well as advocating to end funding for the purely defensive Iron Dome missile defense system. However, other members of “The Squad” are not afforded the same access to classified material and the same international platform that a seat on the prestigious House Foreign Affairs Committee provides, or we would need to address them as well.

I cannot, in good conscience, let a vocal and active antisemite continue to sit on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Despite weak apologies, Congresswoman Omar has continually invoked the worst tropes, stereotypes and conspiracies against the Jewish people and their homeland.

That is why I want to strip Omar of her seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Not to do this is to allow hatred against Jewish people to continue. I hope my fellow representatives, Republican and Democrat, support this measure as well.