Opinion: Ilhan Omar is getting off the hook
Rep. Ilhan Omar attends a Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Thursday. By Max Boot Max Boot Columnist covering national security Email Bio Follow Columnist March 7 at 4:28 PM Tribalism is one of the most powerful instincts in the world. It can be a force for good when it leads soldiers or first responders to risk their lives for others.
Omar has a long and dismaying record of anti-Semitic utterances. In 2012, she tweeted: “Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel. #Gaza #Palestine #Israel.” As Bari Weiss noted in the New York Times, “The conspiracy theory of the Jew as the hypnotic conspirator, the duplicitous manipulator, the sinister puppeteer is one with ancient roots and a bloody history.
No one ever accuses supporters of the U.S.-Britain “special relationship” of owing allegiance to a foreign country. Nor do supporters of the U.S. alliances with Canada, Japan, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Poland or any other country face such accusations. Only supporters of Israel. This is an old and ugly anti-Semitic canard.
Omar’s defenders — who, I am sad to say, include presidential candidates Sens. Kamala D. Harris , Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders — suggest that to criticize her is to “stifle” debate and to equate any criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism. Wrong. It’s perfectly legitimate to criticize Israel.
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