It is widely reported that Congresswomen Omar and Tlaib have been appearing at fundraising and speaking engagements for the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR). CAIR was named by the U.S. Department of Justice as an unindicted co-conspirator in its prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation and for providing support to the terrorist group Hamas. Hamas is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamist fundamentalist organization. It is regarded as a terrorist organization by several countries and international organizations, notably by Israel, the United States, and the European Union.
Democrats respond tepidly to hate from their own
Rep. Ilhan Omar’s, comment that the influence of the Israeli lobby in Washington pushes lawmakers to take a pledge of “allegiance to a foreign country” was bigoted. A watered-down House resolution, which failed to hold Omar personally and professionally accountable, was all the Democrats could muster. The resolution mumbled something about “all hatred” and did not address either the offense, anti-Semitism the offender or that it was a repeat performance. It was a meaningless gesture intended as political ass-covering by a hate-filled intolerant political group.
Omar issued an apology. But this is not the first time she’s made such hate-filled comments about Israel. In 2012, Omar tweeted: “Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.” The implication was that Israel and its backers are being manipulated to support the Jewish state. This old anti-Semitic trope should be familiar to anyone with a minimal understanding of the history of the Jewish people and the genocidal goal of their enemies.
Omar did apologize but she did not do so until she got to Congress. Her apology was obviously more political than sincere. Consider her appeal to “Allah.” Why would she, or any Muslim, disobey Allah? If one obeys the laws of Allah what exactly does that require?
A little history
Jews have learned from our long and painful history that words matter. Violence against Jews does not erupt in a vacuum. The increasing ease with which anti-Semitic comments are uttered is deeply painful and disturbing.
Martin Niemöller famously said: “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.” We should not forget his caution.
Current hate
Over the weekend in Sri Lanka Islamists killed nearly 300 Catholics and injured hundreds more in attacks on churches. Hate is becoming a life-threatening matter here and abroad. We cannot keep hate-filled people in positions of authority. Using political parties to spread hate is very dangerous. No matter how personally attractive they may be, no matter how charismatic they are, hate is bigotry which it leads to violence. Are you willing to be part of that?
That truth again is on display in Israel. There Palestinian Arafat Irfaiya, the prime suspect in the murder of Israeli teenager Ori Ansbacher, was recently indicted. World Israel News reports his explanation for stabbing and then raping the girl: “Because she was a Jew.” The publication says Irfaiya left his home in Hebron with “the express intention of killing a Jew.”
You have to be taught to hate. Hatred is at the heart of anti-Semitism. The most hate-filled and action-oriented group in the world today is radical Islam. It can only get worse when those who harbor anti-Semitic sentiments, like Rep. Omar and her colleague Rep. Tlaib, are elected to Congress.
Responses
According to The Daily Caller, Maher Abdel-qader, a key fundraiser for Tlaib, shared an anti-Semitic video that described Jews as “satanic.” The clip included this comment: “Research the truth about the Holocaust, and you’ll definitely start to question what you thought you knew.” The video’s narrator went on to question whether 6 million Jews died in the Holocaust. The Caller writes, “Abdel-qader shared the video both on his personal Facebook page and within the group that now includes Tlaib.”
Morton A. Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, the oldest pro-Israel group in the U.S., told Mark Levin on Levin’s radio show: “… the Democrat party has shown a lack of will to tell the truth of the Arab Islamist war against Israel. In a recent BDS vote to stop BDS, boycotting Israel, the innocent Israel, half of the Democrats voted against that bill. Virtually every Republican voted for it. … So we have a real problem with the Democratic party.”
In a New York Times column last week, Bret Stephens, who is Jewish, wrote: “…If Pelosi can’t muster a powerful and unequivocal resolution condemning anti-Semitism, then Omar will have secured her political future and won a critical battle for the soul of the Democratic Party. At that point, the days when American Jews can live comfortably within the Democratic fold will be numbered.”
Ref:
https://dailycaller.com/2019/01/30/rashida-tlaib-anti-semitism/
https://www.thedailybeast.com/rashida-tlaib-faces-criticism-over-fundraisers-anti-semitic-facebook-posts
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/mar/11/the-democrats-jewish-problem/
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/07/opinion/ilhan-omar-anti-semitism.html
Transcript of ZOA President Morton Klein’s Appearance on The Mark Levin Show on March 6, 2019
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/federal-judge-hands-downs-sentences-holy-land-foundation-case
https://www.onenewspage.com/current/mj6m30/hamas.htm
“EU keeps Hamas on terror list, despite court ruling”, Euractiv, March 27, 2015
“Country reports on Terrorism”, state.gov, April 2006.
Fisher, Max (November 21, 2012), “9 questions about Israel-Gaza you were too embarrassed to ask”
https://dailycaller.com/2019/02/19/tlaib-omar-cair-banquet/
https://news.iheart.com/featured/glenn-beck/content/2019-03-11-amid-accusations-of-anti-semitism-omar-and-tlaib-to-speak-at-fundraisers-for-terror-linked-organization/
https://www.theblaze.com/news/congress-cair-tlaib-omar
Muslim Rep. Rashida Tlaib to speak along with anti-Semitic imam at Hamas-linked CAIR event
Rep. Ilhan Omar to speak at Woodland Hills banquet ’empowering Valley Muslims’
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2019/03/25/omar-could-care-less-about-what-those-pro-israel-protesters-have-to-say-as-fellow-dems-forced-to-apologize-for-her-at-aipac-737013
https://www.libertyheadlines.com/omar-offensive-remark-not-quiet/
Daily Signal, Cal Thomas, March 12, 2019