Rep. Ilhan Omar has intensified her claims that some Jewish lawmakers have a dual loyalty to Israel, rejecting criticism from Democratic colleagues that she is engaging in anti-Semitism.
“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,” Omar tweeted Sunday afternoon. “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.”
Omar, an aggressive first-term Democrat hoping to bring left-wing views to the Foreign Affairs Committee, has drawn rebukes from Democratic leaders after her comments about the U.S.-Israel alliance. Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel, who is Jewish, urged her on Friday to apologize for suggesting that Israel supporters “push for allegiance to a foreign country,” a claim that he dubbed “a vile anti-Semitic slur.”
[Opinion: The Ilhan Omar train wreck gets even worse]
The criticism was stepped up Saturday, when the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee issued her own condemnation.
“Lawmakers must be able to debate [without] prejudice or bigotry,” Appropriations Chairwoman Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., tweeted. “I am saddened that Rep. Omar continues to mischaracterize support for Israel. I urge her to retract this statement and engage in further dialogue with the Jewish community on why these comments are so hurtful.”
Omar replied to Lowey in a series of tweets. “Our democracy is built on debate, Congresswoman!” she wrote. “I have not mischaracterized our relationship with Israel, I have questioned it and that has been clear from my end.”
Lowey dismissed Omar’s defense of herself. “No member of Congress is asked to swear allegiance to another country,” she replied in another pair of tweets. “Throughout history, Jews have been accused of dual loyalty, leading to discrimination and violence, which is why these accusations are so hurtful. I believe we can debate important policy without using offensive, painful stereotypes.”
The controversy arose from a discussion between Omar and other Democratic lawmakers at a bookstore cafe in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night. She worried aloud that her religious affiliation would make it easier for critics to dismiss her objections to U.S. support for the Israeli government, but added that she wants “to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK to push for allegiance to a foreign country.”
That provoked a tongue-lashing from Engel. “I welcome debate in Congress based on the merits of policy, but it’s unacceptable and deeply offensive to call into question the loyalty of fellow American citizens because of their political views, including support for the U.S.-Israel relationship,” the New York Democrat said Friday evening. “We all take the same oath. Worse, Rep. Omar’s comments leveled that charge by invoking a vile anti-Semitic slur.”
That’s the second time in a month that Engel has directed a public rebuke at Omar’s complaints about pro-Israel influence in the United States Congress, while Republicans call for her dismissal from the plum post overseeing the State Department.
Concurrently, Omar found herself at the center of an even more dramatic clash between lawmakers in the West Virginia legislature, where someone had displayed a sign associated Omar — who came to the United States from Somalia as a refugee and now represents Minneapolis-area voters in the House — with the al Qaeda attack on the World Trade Center in 2001.
“We must be willing to combat hate of all kinds while also calling out oppression of all kinds,” Omar tweeted. “I will do my best to live up to that. I hope my colleagues will join me in doing the same.”
Lowey took aim at both outbursts on Saturday. “Gross Islamophobic stereotypes – like those about @IlhanMN recently featured on posters in WVA – are offensive and have no place in political discourse,” she tweeted. “Anti-Semitic tropes that accuse Jews of dual loyalty are equally painful and must also be roundly condemned.”
