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?
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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