Definition of smear campaign: a plan to discredit a public figure by making false or dubious accusations. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/)
A smear campaign is an intentional, premeditated effort to undermine an individual’s or group’s reputation, credibility, and character. Like negative campaigning, most often smear campaigns target government officials, politicians, political candidates, and other public figures. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smear_campaign)
Definition of anti-Semitism: hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group.
– Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anti-Semitism
Working Definition of Antisemitism. Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust. Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.
– International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, https://www.holocaustremembrance.com/working-definition-antisemitism
Definition of trope: Rhetoric.. any literary or rhetorical device, as metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony, that consists in the use of words in other than their literal sense. (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/trope)
In 2012, Ilhan Omar was not yet the first Somali-American member of Congress. She was a Muslim woman who had fled persecution before and was convinced she knew it when she saw it.
She witnessed what she saw as persecution yet again with a 2012 Israeli military assault in the Gaza Strip, a place where the Palestinian population has lived in a state of desperation since the Israeli isolation and blockade of the Hamas-led Palestinian territory, a place where an Israeli assault on a Gaza “Freedom Flotilla” on May 31, 2010 had killed nine peace activists and where the Israeli military had fired white phosphorous chemical weapons in the infamous Operation Cast Lead from December 27, 2008 to January 18, 2009.
The Israeli government had pointed to the regular firing of rockets from Gaza as justification for these actions, but the disproportionate force used led to accusations from much of the international community of imposing collective punishment on the Palestinians of Gaza, and the treatment of Palestinians in the more compliant West Bank was not much better, with the increasing encroachment of Israeli settlements and the building of roads through the West Bank that Palestinians were not allowed to use, policies which had caused former US president Jimmy Carter to write about “apartheid” in the Palestinian territories.
Ms. Omar was inspired by what she had seen of the 2012 assault to write the following Tweet:
“Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.”
Even though she was not a member of Congress at the time, that Tweet was used seven years later to launch a political attack on her less than a month after being sworn in as part of a new wave of women, one of Congress’ first Muslim women (along with Rashida Tlaib of Michigan) and the first-ever Somali-American in the United States House of Representatives.
When journalist Glen Greenwald Tweeted in January about threats from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to take “action” against her for that earlier Tweet, she responded with a comment that reflects the suspicions of many that lobbyists, including the powerful pro-Israel lobby AIPAC (the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee), have influenced political leaders with their campaign contributions:
“It’s all about the Benjamins baby.”
Afrikan-Americans recognize this saying as the title and main vocal hook from the 1997 hip-hop smash from Puff Daddy (Sean “P Diddy” Combs) and the Family, as well as the 2002 film starring Ice Cube and Mike Epps. To us, the line highlights the undue influence money has over all of us, often to our own detriment. However, others see that line as something entirely different: an “anti-Semitic trope”.
“Congresswoman Omar’s use of anti-Semitic tropes and prejudicial accusations about Israel’s supporters is deeply offensive. We condemn these remarks and we call upon Congresswoman Omar to immediately apologize for these hurtful comments.”
– Statement from the House Democratic leadership, Sunday, February 10, 2019
Rep. Omar’s initial efforts to defend herself from what many saw as a weak right-wing excuse to attack her integrity seemed to ignite even more controversy.
“Our democracy is built on debate, Congresswoman! 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. The people of the 5th elected me to serve their interest. I am sure we agree on that!”
– Tweet from Congress Member Ilhan Omar, in response to criticism from NY Reps. Eliot Engel (D) and Nita Lowey (D)
Ms. Omar continued to defend her integrity, even as she issued apologies for the “unknowing” use of what she had come to acknowledge as “hurtful” words to her critics.
“I am told everyday that I am anti-American if I am not pro-Israel. I find that to be problematic and I am not alone. I just happen to be willing to speak up on it and open myself to attacks.”
– Tweet from Congress Member Ilhan Omar
“Israel is an ally of the United States and I think as much as you would look to your neighbor, to your friends, to live out the same values as you are, we want to make sure that our allies are living out the same values that we push for here.”
– Congress Member Ilhan Omar, in a CNN interview
While it may be understandable that Jewish politicians and members of the Jewish community may have taken her words as hurtful (though many progressive Jews in the United States who are themselves critical of official Israeli actions seem to know better), when one looks at the Tweets above, exactly what about them is anti-Semitic? How is it that mere criticism of Israeli policy must always place one in the same company as the Nazi Party, even if a statement criticizes the government and not the people? If “all about the Benjamins” is considered anti-Semitic, then is not the common expression “money talks, bullshit walks” as well? Must we now cease listening to the O’Jays’ “For The Love Of Money” for fear of being labeled a hater of Jews? Is all criticism of politicians’ susceptibility to lobbyists now off-limits? Is it now improper to point out that political candidates, whose campaigns are initially judged by how much money they raise and whose policies once in office are often influenced by the moneyed interests whose contributions got them their jobs, are influenced more by these major donors than by the people who elected them? Is campaign finance reform, an often-touted strategy to “take the money out of politics”, now a forbidden subject? Who exactly is being anti-Semitic here, those of us who use the above expressions and point out the hypocrisy of materialistic would-be lawmakers, or those who see in all of them some unintended, loosely-associated and often-manufactured reference to people of the Jewish faith and Israeli citizenship?
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is generally considered to be a form of racism. It has also been characterized as a political ideology which serves as an organizing principle and unites disparate groups which are opposed to liberalism.
Antisemitism may be manifested in many ways, ranging from expressions of hatred of or discrimination against individual Jews to organized pogroms by mobs, state police, or even military attacks on entire Jewish communities. Although the term did not come into common usage until the 19th century, it is now also applied to historic anti-Jewish incidents. Notable instances of persecution include the Rhineland massacres preceding the First Crusade in 1096, the Edict of Expulsion from England in 1290, the massacres of Spanish Jews in 1391, the persecutions of the Spanish Inquisition, the expulsion from Spain in 1492, the Cossack massacres in Ukraine from 1648 to 1657, various anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire between 1821 and 1906, the 1894–1906 Dreyfus affair in France, the Holocaust in German-occupied Europe during World War II, Soviet anti-Jewish policies, and Arab and Muslim involvement in the Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries.
The root word Semite gives the false impression that antisemitism is directed against all Semitic people, e.g., including Arabs and Assyrians. The compound word antisemite was popularized in Germany in 1879 as a scientific-sounding term for Judenhass (“Jew-hatred”), and this has been its common use since then.
-from a Wikipedia article on Antisemitism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitism)
Ms. Omar did not question the existence of the Holocaust or its horrific toll on Jews worldwide. She did not make statements against the Jewish community or exhort people to commit actions against Jews as Neo-Nazis and followers of the Ku Klux Klan often do. Her comments were critical of Israeli government actions, specifically those that have led and still lead to Palestinian suffering or are used to influence US politicians to stifle criticism. And she did not play subtle games using double-speak. She was, at worst, unsubtle and politically incorrect, a level of brutal frankness many of her right-wing detractors would admire if coming from one of their own.
But she was attacked for it, and some have issued threats against her safety for it. Thus is the honesty and, perhaps, naivete of a 37-year-old (young by political standards) freshman Member of Congress punished.
The criticism from right-wing media was summarized, in part, by a March 3, 2019 article by Joel Pollak for Breitbart, “Ilhan Omar Doubled Down on Antisemitic Slur: No ‘Allegiance’ to Israel” (https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/03/03/ilhan-omar-doubles-down-on-antisemitic-slur-no-allegiance-to-israel/):
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) doubled down Sunday on her comment last week accusing pro-Israel Americans of “allegiance to a foreign country,” repeating that view on Twitter and defying calls from fellow Democrats to apologize. …
The Political Machine Retaliates
The response from the Democratic Party establishment was swift and, frankly, not surprising. Kassy Dillon wrote an article on February 11, 2019 in the Daily wire (https://www.dailywire.com/news/43320/democrats-pelosi-condemn-ilhan-omar-keep-her-key-kassy-dillon), “Democrats, Pelosi Condemn Ilhan Omar, But Keep Her On Key Committee”, and an article in Business Insider, “Democrats condemn Rep. Ilhan Omar over ‘anti-Semitic’ tweets about AIPAC and Israel” (https://www.businessinsider.com/democrats-criticize-ilhan-omar-aipac-israel-tweets-2019-2Congressional) describes the reaction as follows:
A number of congressional Democrats on Monday joined a growing chorus of criticism against freshman Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota over her tweets about Israel that led to widespread allegations of anti-Semitism.
Omar ignited a social-media firestorm on Sunday after she suggested that support for Israel among Republican members of Congress is motivated by money.
“It’s all about the Benjamins baby,” Omar tweeted in response to a tweet from the journalist Glenn Greenwald about House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy threatening to take “action” against the freshman congresswoman over her criticism of Israel.
Subsequently, when asked to clarify what she meant, Omar in a separate tweet seemed to suggest a pro-Israel lobbying group — the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) — is paying US politicians to support Israel. …
Omar is a proponent of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS), a nonviolent, global campaign that seeks to isolate Israel economically and politically regarding the country’s treatment of Palestinians and the occupation of the West Bank.
The Minnesota congresswoman has been unabashedly critical of the Israeli government and said in a recent CNN interview it’s “exciting” to see a broader debate happening on the US government’s relationship with Israel.
“It’s not surprising. I think it is actually exciting because we are finally able to have conversations that we weren’t really willing to,” Omar said. “It is really important for us to get a different lens about what peace in that region could look like and the kind of difficult conversations we need to have about allies.”
“Israel is an ally of the United States and I think as much as you would look to your neighbor, to your friends, to live out the same values as you are, we want to make sure that our allies are living out the same values that we push for here,” she added. …
Amid the ongoing criticism, Omar has maintained that she supports the Jewish community and her comments are directed at the Israeli government in the context of its policy toward Palestine. She’s also expressed regret over how she’s framed her criticism of Israel in the past.
Meanwhile, Ms. Omar has her defenders in Congress and the Senate. US Senators and 2020 presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), Kamala Harris (D-California) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) have expressed their concerns about the fervor with which Ms. Omar has been targeted. One article detailing this was written by Filipa Ioannou (“Kamala Harris defends Ilhan Omar after backlash to Israel comments”, Wednesday, March 6, 2019; https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/ilhan-omar-kamala-harris-nancy-pelosi-resolution-13668448.php):
In a Wednesday statement, Harris expressed concern over the criticism of Omar, who has reportedly received death threats.
“We all have a responsibility to speak out against anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia, racism, and all forms of hatred and bigotry, especially as we see a spike in hate crimes in America. But like some of my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus, I am concerned that the spotlight being put on Congresswoman Omar may put her at risk,” said Harris in a statement released Wednesday afternoon.
“We should be having a sound, respectful discussion about policy. You can both support Israel and be loyal to our country,” the statement continued. “I also believe there is a difference between criticism of policy or political leaders, and anti-Semitism.” …
Other 2020 contenders, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also expressed misgivings about the criticism of Omar, warning against equating “anti-Semitism with legitimate criticism of the right-wing, Netanyahu government in Israel.”
“What I fear is going on in the House now is an effort to target Congresswoman Omar as a way of stifling that debate,” he continued, in a statement to The Hill. “That’s wrong.”
David Crary wrote an analysis for sfgate.com (https://www.sfgate.com/news/texas/article/Omar-furor-reflects-intensifying-national-debate-13675648.php) on Saturday, March 9, 2019 “Omar furor reflects intensifying national debate over Israel”:
One of the first two Muslim women in Congress, Omar supports a contentious part of the overall dispute — the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, or BDS, which promotes various forms of boycotts against Israel.
Some celebrities — including actress Natalie Portman and singer Lana Del Ray — have withdrawn from appearances in Israel in recent months out of concern over Israeli policies. Several scholarly associations, including the American Studies Association and the Association for Asian American Studies, have supported an academic boycott, even as other associations and academic leaders have opposed that campaign. …
In response to the BDS movement, 26 states have passed laws seeking to deter businesses and individuals from participating in it. For example, a Texas law requires contractors who work for or do business with the state to certify that they do not boycott Israel or Israeli-occupied territories.
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed lawsuits challenging the Texas law and similar laws in three other states, saying they violate the right to free speech. A separate lawsuit was filed in Texas by a speech language pathologist, Bahia Amawi, who said she lost her contract with the state because she would not sign the certification. …
One of the groups supporting BDS is Jewish Voice for Peace, which was founded in 1996 and endorsed the boycott campaign in 2015. Rabbi Alissa Wise, the group’s deputy director, says the boycott campaign has been effective, even in the face of state laws seeking to curtail it.
“These laws are meant to silence and repress,” she said. “But they can’t change people’s hearts and minds.”
The Anti-Defamation League, whose mission is to combat anti-Semitism, denounces Jewish Voice for Peace as “a radical anti-Israel activist group” that advocates a total boycott.
Linda Sarsour, one of the key organizers of the Women’s March in 2017 and 2019, blasted Pelosi and the House leadership for their initial condemnation of Ms. Omar (https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Ilhan-Omar-Linda-Sarsour-anti-semitism-Pelosi-13665817.php), “Women’s March leader blasts ‘white feminist’ Nancy Pelosi for Ilhan Omar condemnation”, by Eric Ting, Tuesday, March 5, 2019.
Women’s March leader Linda Sarsour ripped into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after House Democrats drafted a resolution condemning anti-Semitism in response to Rep. Ilhan Omar accusing pro-Israel lawmakers of pushing for “allegiance to a foreign country.” …
“Nancy is a typical white feminist upholding the patriarchy doing the dirty work of powerful white men,” she wrote in a Facebook post. “God forbid the men are upset – no worries, Nancy to the rescue to stroke their egos.” …
“Democrats are playing in to the hands of the right,” she wrote. “Dividing our base and reinforcing their narrative and giving them an easier path towards 2020… You want a resolution? Condemn all forms of bigotry. All forms of bigotry are unacceptable. We won’t let them pin us up against each other. We stand with Representative Ilhan Omar. Our top priority is the safety of our sister and her family.”
The House of Representatives Resolution on Anti-Semitism and Bigotry
The House of Representatives’ official word on the matter came down on March 7, 2019 when it passed a broad resolution by a vote of 407-23. “Sparked by Ilhan Omar’s ‘Valid Criticism’ of Israel, House Overwhelmingly Passes Broad ‘Anti-Hate’ Resolution”, on the Web site of Common Dreams (https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/07/sparked-ilhan-omars-valid-criticism-israel-house-overwhelmingly-passes-broad-anti), reported on the resolution on March 7, along with the text (which can be read in its entirety on the Common Dreams article link):
The House on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a non-binding Democratic resolution condemning anti-Semitism, white supremacy, Islamophobia, and other forms of bigotry.
The final tally was 407-23, with 234 Democrats and 173 Republicans voting yes. All of the no votes were Republicans, and one GOP member—Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa)—voted present.
Though the resolution does not mention Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) by name, progressive critics perceived the measure as an implicit rebuke of the congresswoman over her criticism of the Israeli lobby and government.
“While valid criticism of Netanyahu, AIPAC, and Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinians are being falsely attacked as anti-Semitism, threats by white supremacists are continuing.”
—Rabbi Alissa Wise, Jewish Voice for Peace.
While advocacy groups that have mobilized in defense of Omar applauded House Democrats’ far-reaching condemnation of hatred and bigotry, they were quick to note that the resolution is far from perfect.
“As the anti-Omar resolution was transformed into a broader ‘anti-hate’ resolution—with plenty of rhetoric that progressives support—it unfortunately found no room to say: ‘Criticism of Israel cannot be equated with anti-Semitism.’ That was the message of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren in their defenses of Omar,” said Jeff Cohen, co-founder of RootsAction.org. “Let’s hope the resistance to the original resolution marks a turning point in Congress’ blind support for Israel’s subjugation of Palestinians.”
Linda Sarsour—executive director of MPower Change, a broad coalition of Arab and Muslim groups that helped organize support for Omar—said that it is now time to “get back to work against the rise of white nationalism that threatens all of our communities and build a government and policies that respects every resident of this nation.”
“We are a movement that unequivocally rejects anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, anti-Black racism, and all forms of bigotry, and expect the same from Democratic leadership,” Sarsour said. “It’s a new day where we no longer will accept attacks on our free speech and stifling of necessary debate on Israeli government policies against Palestinians.”
Rabbi Alissa Wise, deputy director of Jewish Voice for Peace, echoed Sarsour’s warning about white nationalism, saying, “While valid criticism of Netanyahu, AIPAC, and Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinians are being falsely attacked as anti-Semitism, threats by white supremacists are continuing.”
“And we all know who white supremacists have their sights set on: Black people, Muslims, Jews, immigrants, and more,” Wise concluded. “We’re happy to see a resolution that condemns real bigotry, rather than going after Rep. Ilhan Omar and her vision of a world free of racism and oppression.” …
On Twitter, the youth-led Jewish advocacy group IfNotNow credited grassroots pressure with ensuring that “the new House Resolution [is] more inclusive: it now condemns anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and racism, while correctly blaming the rise of such bigotry on white nationalism and white supremacy.”
“It is not a perfect resolution,” IfNotNow added. “Its timing still clearly associates it as a rebuke to Ilhan Omar. It, unfortunately, enshrines U.S. support for the Israeli government, which maintains the fifty-one-year military occupation of the West Bank and siege of the Gaza Strip.”
But this broad resolution against anti-Semitism and bigotry was not enough for the right-wing. Several Republican lawmakers refused to vote for the resolution because they felt it was “watered down” from what they had wanted – an unequivocal condemnation of Ms. Omar, and perhaps even some punishment to be imposed upon her, taking her seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee for starters, and for some, expulsion from the House of Representatives altogether. Here is a sampling of some of the responses, taken from an article by Emily Cochrane, Catie Edmondson and Sheryl Gay Stolberg for msn.com on Sunday, March 10 (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/why-some-republicans-voted-against-the-antibigotry-resolution/ar-BBUAiAA?ocid=spartanntp):
Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama
Mr. Brooks said he voted against the resolution because its “failure to specifically state opposition to discrimination against Caucasian-Americans and Christians, while reflective of Socialist Democrat priorities and values is, by omission, fatal to the bill.”
After Mr. Brooks said in 2016 that Muslims wanted to “kill every gay person in America,” the Alabama chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations demanded an apology.
Representative Ted Budd of North Carolina
Mr. Budd, reacting on Twitter, said that he voted against the resolution because it failed to name Ms. Omar or list her comments.
Representative Michael C. Burgess of Texas
The legislation, Mr. Burgess said in a statement, “does not adequately refute the anti-Semitism that has been displayed in the U.S. House of Representatives.”
Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming
Perhaps the most striking “no” vote came from Ms. Cheney, the No. 3 Republican, because of her role as chairwoman of the House Republican Conference.
“Today’s resolution vote was a sham put forward by Democrats to avoid condemning one of their own and denouncing vile anti-Semitism,” Ms. Cheney said in a statement after the vote.
Representative Chris Collins of New York
Mr. Collins was re-elected in November even after he was indicted on a charge of insider trading. He has kept a low profile, but after his “no” vote, he took to Twitter.
“After reading the final resolution I did not feel it was strong enough in support of Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East, and that is why I voted no,” Mr. Collins said.
Representative Rick Crawford of Arkansas
“If Democrat Leaders wanted to specifically address anti-Semitism and a member of their conference who has repeatedly made anti-Semitic comments,” Mr. Crawford said on Twitter, “this resolution failed in nearly every way possible.”
Representative Jeff Duncan of South Carolina
Mr. Duncan argued that a true condemnation would have made reference to Ms. Omar, and the comments that prompted the resolution.
Mr. Duncan stirred protests in 2017 when he posted on Facebook an image of a white man labeled “Europe” with a noose around his neck watering a small tree labeled “Islam,” with one end of the noose tied around it. “Chew on this picture,” he wrote.
Representative Louie Gohmert of Texas
In a fiery speech on the House floor on Thursday, Mr. Gohmert complained that the resolution was “watered down.”
Mr. Gohmert dealt with his own accusations of anti-Semitism last year after he falsely accused [George] Soros of collaborating with the Nazis during World War II, a popular myth on the far right. “George Soros is supposed to be Jewish, but you wouldn’t know it from the damage he’s inflicted on Israel, and the fact that he turned on fellow Jews and helped take the property that they owned,” he said on Fox Business Network.
Patrick Gaspard, the president of Mr. Soros’s Open Society Foundations, sent a letter to Mr. Gohmert in December demanding an apology for the “disturbing and false anti-Semitic slur.”
Mr. Soros was a child in Nazi-occupied Hungary.
Representative Paul Gosar of Arizona
“Without naming the offender, the chastisement is an empty gesture,” Mr. Gosar said on Twitter. “It’s time for Democrats to take real action against these anti-Jewish remarks.”
Mr. Gosar raised eyebrows after the deadly white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017 when he said “an Obama sympathizer” — funded by Mr. Soros — “started the rally,” then repeated the claim that Mr. Soros “turned in his own people to the Nazis.”
Representative Peter T. King of New York
Mr. King complained on Twitter that the resolution was weakened because of political correctness, and said it was a “sad day for Congress.”
“Victory for hate speech!” he added.
Representative Doug LaMalfa of California
In a statement to The New York Times, Mr. LaMalfa said that the resolution — which he called a “last-minute, politically driven catchall smorgasbord” — was an “abomination to the message that should be sent on the anti-Jewish, anti-Israel rhetoric.”
Representative Mike Rogers of Alabama
“House Democrats had the opportunity to make a strong statement against this vile bigotry by condemning hateful statements,” Mr. Rogers in a statement. “Instead, they caved to their radical socialist base and took no meaningful action.”
Representative Mark Walker of North Carolina
In a statement, Mr. Walker said that it was a “spineless resolution” that “provided cover to a politician spreading hatred and anti-Semitism.”
The Attack Continues on Several Fronts
“They got to him, he is compromised.”
-Tweet from Congress Member Ilhan Omar about former Senator and Attorney General Lindsey Graham, regarding Graham’s flip-flop from calling then-presidential candidate Donald Trump a “race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot” to becoming one of the most ardent supporters of the Republican presidential nominee and later president
As if accusations of anti-Semitism weren’t enough, some have even attacked Ms. Omar as being homophobic. As supporters of Ms. Omar have noted about the rather thin rationale that she is an anti-Semite for daring to criticize Israeli policy and actions, her detractors have also taken to interpreting her use of the word “compromised” as an indication that she was implying that Lindsey Graham was a secret homosexual, thus sparking accusations of homophobia. William Cummings wrote in USA Today about this curious intellectual leap in a January 17, 2019 article “Rep. Omar starts furor with tweets on ‘compromised’ Sen. Graham, Israel ‘evil doings'” (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2019/01/17/ilhan-omar-tweet-controversy/2603030002/):
On Tuesday, the Minnesota Democrat and first Somali-American elected to Congress, posted a tweet about Graham, saying, “They got to him, he is compromised.” The comment was made with a retweet of a post featuring a 2015 CNN interview in which the South Carolina Republican called then-presidential candidate Donald Trump a “race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot.”
When asked about the tweet on CNN Thursday, Omar said her point was “we have seen many times where Sen. Lindsey Graham has told us how dangerous this president could be if he was given the opportunity to be in the White House, and all of the sudden he’s made … a turnaround.”
“So, I am pretty sure that there is something happening with him, whether it is something that has to do with his funding when it comes to running for office, whether it has something to do with the pull that they might have in his district, or whether it has to do with some sort of leadership within the Senate,” she continued without explaining who she meant by “they.”
“He is somehow compromised to no longer stand up for the truth,” she concluded from his change of opinion. …
Although she made no reference to Graham’s sexuality, many conservatives denounced her for homophobia, saying her tweet about Graham being compromised was a reference to long-running and unsubstantiated rumors that he is gay.
“This is ignorant, homophobic and unacceptable,” CNN’s S.E. Cupp tweeted with a link to the CNN interview in which Omar made no reference to Graham’s sexuality. “Democrats, this is becoming a very bad look.”
“Here we have Ilhan Omar, a sitting Congresswoman, floating around a conspiracy theory with absolutely zero evidence that Lindsey Graham is secretly gay and the GOP is holding him hostage. Unbelievable,” tweeted social media strategist Caleb Hull.
Meanwhile, Ms. Omar has continued to defend her political stance while acknowledging that her statements were often clumsily made without realizing how they would be interpreted. “There’s a difference between criticizing a military action by a government that has exercised really oppressive policies and being offensive or attacking a particular people of faith,” she said in a January 2019 interview with Christine Amanpour while calling her choice of words in the “hypnotized” tweet “unfortunate”.
“I say the same things if not worse when it comes to the Saudi government. I’ve called for boycotts of Hajj, and boycotts of Saudi Arabia, because to me it is important when you see oppression taking place – when you see regression – when you see our values being attacked as humans, you must stand up, and it doesn’t matter who the inhabiters of that particular region might be.”
While public figures must be held to standards of honesty and compassion for all people and must be corrected when they misspeak or behave in ways that offend members of the diverse citizenry of their country and the world, the rest of us need to recognize the difference between indelicate remarks, uninformed comments, unenlightened opinions and vindictive and hateful proclamations designed to awaken the impulses that reside in the xenophobic recesses of the soul. We’ve seen enough examples of true evil in political leaders who have sought to promulgate policies that exclude others, dispossess others of their homes, encircle others, imprison others, exploit others, oppress others and exterminate others. Enough has been said about the “othering” of those who are not the same as us for us to be able to see real hatred when it rears its ugly head. It’s time for us all to think more and lash out less, time for us all to stop looking for convenient, vulnerable scapegoats and to start standing up to real injustice and evil when we see it. Perhaps then we will cease with the wanton attacks against a young, idealistic and, yes, imperfect lawmaker such as Representative Ilhan Omar and start resisting the policies and actions that truly exacerbate the worsening climate of xenophobia in America and around the world.
