Saturday, March 02, 2019
Ilhan Omar went on a fence-mending tour with local Jews. Then she offended them, again.
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minneapolis found herself in hot water Friday, accused, again, of anti-Semitism for fresh remarks about American Jews who support Israel.
And she had just tried to put this behind her.
Over the past two weeks,Omar had several meetings in Minnesota with local Jewish leaders.
It was essentially part of a low-profile, not-on-Twitter, fence-mending tour following Omar’s remarks earlier in the month many saw as anti-Semitic and part of a pattern that dates back several years.
Then, on Thursday night, she said something publicly that many took as a statement that questioned the patriotism of American Jews.
Here’s what she said, during what was billed as a “progressive town hall” at a bookstore cafe in Washington, D.C., as reported by Jewish Insider, which covered the event:
“So for me, I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK to push for allegiance to a foreign country.”
A spokesman Friday said Omar remains contrite for her previous statements and her comments Thursday night were about the undue influence of lobbyists in politics.
But it’s the “allegiance to a foreign country” bit that sharply raised eyebrows.
For some Jews, it smacks of a longtime attack questioning their patriotism and attempting to marginalize Jews as not true patriots of America, or whatever country where they live. The disloyalty suggestion carries so much baggage that the Anti-Defamation League has a web page detailing its uses throughout history.
https://www.twincities.com/2019/03/01/ilhan-omar-went-on-a-fence-mending-tour-with-local-jews-then-she-offended-them-again/
And she had just tried to put this behind her.
Over the past two weeks,Omar had several meetings in Minnesota with local Jewish leaders.
It was essentially part of a low-profile, not-on-Twitter, fence-mending tour following Omar’s remarks earlier in the month many saw as anti-Semitic and part of a pattern that dates back several years.
Then, on Thursday night, she said something publicly that many took as a statement that questioned the patriotism of American Jews.
Here’s what she said, during what was billed as a “progressive town hall” at a bookstore cafe in Washington, D.C., as reported by Jewish Insider, which covered the event:
“So for me, I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK to push for allegiance to a foreign country.”
A spokesman Friday said Omar remains contrite for her previous statements and her comments Thursday night were about the undue influence of lobbyists in politics.
But it’s the “allegiance to a foreign country” bit that sharply raised eyebrows.
For some Jews, it smacks of a longtime attack questioning their patriotism and attempting to marginalize Jews as not true patriots of America, or whatever country where they live. The disloyalty suggestion carries so much baggage that the Anti-Defamation League has a web page detailing its uses throughout history.
https://www.twincities.com/2019/03/01/ilhan-omar-went-on-a-fence-mending-tour-with-local-jews-then-she-offended-them-again/
Comments:
Post a Comment
