Rep. Ilhan Omar is facing further scrutiny and demands that she be removed from the Foreign Affairs Committee after suggesting U.S. lawmakers are being forced to “pledge allegiance” to Israel.
New York state Assemblyman Dov Hikind blasted Omar for a pattern of making Anti-Semitic comments repeatedly on social media, only to have to apologize for them later. She doesn’t seem to be learning a lesson from any of these debacles.
“It’s ‘Antisemitic Weekends with Omar,'” Hikind wrote. “On this week’s episode, she’ll talk about Jewish power, money and dual loyalty!”
“Next week: the apology. Rinse and repeat,” he added.
What She Said
What raised his ire was a series of tweets in which Omar accused Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) of demanding dual loyalty to Israel.
“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 wrote.
Omar was named by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Israel is one of America’s few allies in the Middle East.
It’s “Antisemitic Weekends with Omar” – on this week’s episode, she’ll talk about Jewish power, money and dual loyalty!
Next week: the apology.
Rinse and repeat. ?? https://t.co/uoXO7U5GZB
— Dov Hikind (@HikindDov) March 3, 2019
“I have not said anything about the loyalty of others, but spoke about the loyalty expected of me,” Omar would later add. “There is the difference.”
However, video of comments made last week show Omar speaking specifically of the loyalty of others to Israel.
Anti-Semitic Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) pushes the anti-Semitic dual loyalty canard, says: “I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is okay to push for allegiance to a foreign country [Israel].” pic.twitter.com/Df3HSC6WhU
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) February 28, 2019
Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) released a statement condemning Omar’s comments as “a vile anti-Semitic slur,” adding that these types of arguments against the U.S.-Israeli relationship are “unacceptable and deeply offensive.”
Calls to Remove Omar From the House Foreign Affairs Committee
Engel, it should be noted, is Jewish and the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on which Omar serves.
Melissa Langsam Braunstein, a former speechwriter for the Department of State asks, “How many anti-Semitic comments can Omar make before she’s ejected from the House Foreign Affairs Committee?”
“Suggesting that American Jews are more loyal to Israel than our own country is not only false, but also classically anti-Semitic,” she explained.
On Monday, twelve Jewish and pro-Israel organizations delivered a letter to Pelosi and Engel calling for Omar’s removal from the committee, citing her “recent anti-Semitic tweets, statements, and address before Islamic Relief USA,” an organization they claim has “documented ties to terrorist organizations.”
Why Is She on the Committee in the First Place?
Omar’s inclusion on the House Foreign Affairs Committee was nothing short of a head-scratcher, to begin with. It’s not like her anti-Semitic tendencies weren’t readily apparent from the onset.
She has a history which includes references to Israel as “evil,” comparisons of Israel to Iran, repeated anti-Semitic tropes, and support of the anti-Semitic BDS movement.
She has even badgered a Jewish diplomat and traveled with “a radical anti-American and anti-Israel organization” that sides with countries who are political foes to the United States.
“My intention is never to offend my constituents or Jewish Americans as a whole,” Omar said in a non-apology apology after other similar messages about Jews being beholden to money.
And yet, here we are again, with Omar offending Jewish Americans time and time again. When will it end?
