Tuesday, March 12, 2019

WHEN THE TRUTH HURTS: Ilhan Omar Has a Point


The sharp divide in this country between conservatives and progressives is becoming a major concern in a number of ways.  It reached a new level recently when Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) questioned the U. S. unwavering support for the nation Israel and the acceptance of Israeli lobbyists who regularly seek to influence members of Congress to support programs and legislation favorable to Israel.  Specifically, she has criticized the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, also known as AIPAC.   AIPAC is a powerful lobbying group that has used strong-armed methods to garner support for the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister.  The response to Rep. Omar has been powerful and condemnatory.  But I have to ask: could Omar have a point worth looking at, and are her critics’ objections based on facts?

Just by raising this question I am sure I will find myself in hot water with some people.  But can we try to put emotions aside and look at just what it is that Rep. Omar said?  As I understand it, Omar has criticized the policies of Israel on a number of occasions.  These criticisms led Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy to threaten Omar and another congressperson for criticizing Israel with the potential use of censure.  Omar then responded to McCarthy with a tweet that read, “It’s all about the Benjamins baby.”  I must confess I was not sure what that meant until I researched it a bit.  For the uninformed this is another way of saying that McCarthy and others are only objecting to her comments because they have received lots of money from AIPAC (Benjamin Franklin’s portrait is on the $100 bill.  I honestly thought she was making a vague reference to Benjamin Netanyahu – shows how uninformed I am!)  McCarthy and others claim that Rep. Omar has engaged in anti-Semitic language based on her criticism of Israeli policy and Israel’s publicity/lobbying agent AIPAC.

To be clear so far as I can tell, Ilhan Omar at no time criticized the Jewish race or made disparaging comments about them.  She has clearly criticized Israeli policy, especially as it relates to the Palestinians.  I must admit I feel she has a very good point.  Israel needs to be held accountable for their many offenses against the Palestinian people.  Israel is indeed guilty of carrying out a terrorist war against Palestine.  In saying this I am not implying that the Palestinians are completely innocent.  The violence has gone both ways.  But to blindly and ignorantly place all the blame on the Palestinians is wrong!  Let us not forget that Israel at least has a nation they can call their own.  The Palestinians do not.  I have said numerous times in the past that the only solution for this Middle East tension between Israel and Palestine is to make good on the United Nations pledge for a two-State solution.  (See my previous post entitled Resolution 181 Revisited dated 11/4/2011).  As a reminder the United Nations decision that established the State of Israel in 1948 also called for a separate State of Palestine to be established.  However, to this day the second part of that resolution never was enacted.  At the very heart of the crisis in the Middle East is this solitary fact:  Israel has a homeland at the expense of the Palestinians.

Adding fuel to the fire is the government of Prime Minister Netanyahu, who has held the office from 1996 – 1999 and again from 2009 to the present.  His policies have been oppressive toward the Palestinian citizens of Israel, especially with regards to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, where they have built and defended settlements.  But Netanyahu’s problems go deeper.  In recent years he has come under investigation for possible “fraud, breach of trust and bribes”.  On February 13, 2018 Israeli police issued a statement saying there was enough evidence to indict Netanyahu and just this year the Attorney General of Israel announced that he planned to go forward with the charges.

Ilhan Omar is entitled to her opinions about Israeli policies.  Some of her comments might be better served if they were worded more carefully but here is the thing.  What difference is there between Omar’s comments on Israel and Donald Trump’s offensive language?  Trump has openly criticized U. S. allies such as Germany, France, Canada, Australia, Mexico and others.  He has denounced the NATO agreement that has maintained peace on the European continent for over 70 years and is integral to American security.  He has disparaged his political opponents with slander and malicious name calling.  Numerous sources claim that our President has lied well over 8,000 times since taking office.  The tragic part about this is that so many of his lies actually endanger  our security.  The man who is our Commander In Chief simply cannot be trusted on any issue.  That makes me extremely nervous.

Add to this the fact that Trump routinely rebukes and humiliates his own security advisors, intelligence officers, law enforcement agencies and officials, and takes the word of our sworn enemies (Putin, Kim, and Xi) over theirs.  How can this be?  As bad as this is I remain baffled why members of Congress remain so silent – and in many cases, defensive – towards our deceiving President while being so outspoken and critical of Rep. Omar’s opinions that are actually more factual than Trump’s. 

More importantly, Omar has very publicly apologized for her comments and taken responsibility for them.  Has Trump?  Of course not!  He responds to his own lies with even more humiliating and distorted rhetoric.  It seems to me if anyone deserves to be censured it is The Donald.  I suspect that a major reason why the Right is making such an issue out of Omar’s comments and framing them as “anti-Semitic” is an attempt to divert attention away from the constant turmoil surrounding our current Administration.

When I was just a kid my parents taught me to be careful when pointing a finger at someone else because in doing so there are three fingers pointing back at you.  That is what I see here. Sometimes the truth hurts.  Ilhan Omar needs to take responsibility for her comments – and she has.  Can we accept that and move on?

1 comment:

  1. Amen Doug! Your commentary is spot on. The only thing that I would add to your commentary is Trump's outrageous claim that "there were good people on both sides" at the White Nationalist and Neo Nazi rally in Charlottesville two summers ago. Those "good people" were carrying torches through the University of Virginia campus shouting "blood and soil" and "Jews will not replace us." The entire nation witnessed open and blatant antisemitism at that rally and the POTUS defending it. Where was the outrage among Republicans in Congress over that?

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