Over the weekend President Trump unleashed a series of tweets that I agreed were racist, because they lumped together four nonwhite congresswomen who he said should go back to their countries, even though three of them were born in the United States and all were citizens. But as the congresswomen who are subjects of Trump’s tweet are uncritically toasted by the media, it’s worth recalling that Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib didn’t merely generate controversy over anti-Semitic statements. They both specifically questioned the loyalty of Americans who happened to support Israel, and their statements were defended or excused by many of the same people now going after Trump.
Shortly after being sworn into office in January, Tlaib was arguing against a Senate bill that would provide more leeway for state and local governments to refuse to do business with entities that have a policy of boycotting, divesting, and/or sanctioning Israel. While there was a vibrant debate about the balancing act between combating the BDS movement and free speech, the bill itself did not actually require state or local governments to issue these rules. Also, existing laws prevent governments from contracting with businesses that engage in discriminatory practices, so state and local anti-BDS laws just define efforts to boycott Israeli Jews as another example of discrimination.
But Tlaib took things to a different place, arguing that supporters of the bill, “forgot what country they represent.”
Though this played into centuries old stereotypes questioning the loyalty of Jews to their own country, the defense of her statement was that she was merely talking about Republican lawmakers, not specifically Jews. But even under that more charitable interpretation, she was still suggesting that American-born Republican lawmakers were representing a foreign country rather than their own.
Then, in February, Omar was responding to criticism of her tweet that support for Israel in the U.S. Congress was “all about the Benjamins, baby!” Unapologetic, she told a group of liberals that, “I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is okay to push for allegiance to a foreign country.”
Again, the most obvious interpretation of this is that she was reviving the stereotype of Jews not being loyal to their own country, and using their money and influence to pressure those in power to advance the interests of a foreign nation over their own.
But the more charitable defenses were that she was either: A) Talking about the influence of AIPAC or B) That she was talking about the foreign allegiance of non-Jewish Republican lawmakers.
In either case, she was questioning the patriotism of Americans. Of both the American lawmakers who demonstrated that their allegiance is with a foreign country, and also of AIPAC, which after all, is an American organization run by Americans.
For pointing out the anti-Semitism of Tlaib and Omar, I was attacked for arguing in bad faith, or smearing, or for engaging in racism myself — and in some cases, had my own loyalty to America questioned. Many of the people attacking Trump now, were defending or making excuses for Tlaib and Omar. At the same time, it should be noted, that many of those who attacked Tlaib and Omar’s statements, are now out there defending or excusing Trump.
Republicans should be able to support many of Trump’s policies, without feeling the need to defend everything he says he does, no matter how ugly. And if Democrats are serious about building a more inclusive society free of hate, they should stop excusing the virulent anti-Semitism festering within their own party.
