The Anti-War Committee Stands with Representative Omar

The Anti-War Committee Stands with Representative Omar

The Minnesota Anti-War Committee stands in solidarity with Representative Ilhan Omar, who represents many of our supporters and members, against Congressional and media backlash for her criticism of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee and U.S.-Israeli suppression of Palestinian rights. Omar’s tweet quoting the 90’s Puff Daddy song, that it’s “all about the Benjamins” in reference to AIPAC was completely factual. . The Wall Street Journal itself reported that AIPAC raises over $100 million a year to influence American politics in favor of Israel.

Omar’s tweet was not about being anti-Jewish or raising “anti-semitic tropes,” despite her own thoughtful apology which accepted it could have been misinterpreted that way.  Indeed, it is shameful that the energy put into falsely accusing Omar has not been directed at the true ugly head of anti-semitism demonstrated by horrors like the shooting at the Pittsburgh synagogue and hate speech from White Supremacists.

Now that the American public’s support for Israel is at an all time low, thanks in large part to the young, marginalized voters who helped elect representatives like Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, the American political establishment is feeling more pressure to silence people like Omar.  Punishing these dissenting voices is becoming more crucial for U.S. political and corporate leadership, whose war politics seek to dominate the Middle East through client-states like Israel, which receives approximately a quarter of its military budget from the U.S.

Among many other organizations, the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) support Ilhan Omar. Along with USPCN and JVP, we in the Anti-War Committee are familiar with baseless allegations of anti-semitism being used to silence legitimate criticisms of Israeli apartheid, internationally-illegal land acquisitions, and self-interested U.S. policies in the Middle East. Such claims were also made against Angela Davis when she was denied speaking privileges in Birmingham. However, like Angela Davis, we in the AWC recognize that criticizing the Israeli government and its connections to U.S. militarism is a far cry from criticizing Judaism itself. In fact, we believe that using Judaism to shield Israeli apartheid is itself anti-semitic.

Omar is an important voice for the anti-war movement in our country.  Not only is she speaking out against the U.S.’s uncritical support of Apartheid Israel, she has already used her place on the House Foreign Affairs Committee to question our bloody involvement around the world.  When Trump sent neoconservative Elliott Abrams to sell Congress on intervention in Venezuela, she boldly interrogated him about his part in war crimes in El Salvador, illuminating that U.S. military intervention is not about “democracy.” American politicians on both sides of the aisle have always pushed for more military intervention abroad, as Democrat Amy Klobuchar’s record clearly illustrates. The bipartisan establishment has been hostile to Omar from the start, because she has deviated from this expectation and represents the growing political threat of anti-interventionism.

We find Ilhan Omar’s courage to speak out against U.S.-backed oppression and to stand strong in the face of hostility from her colleagues inspiring. We fully support her in her solidarity with Palestinians, Venezuelans, Muslims, Somalis, and all the other oppressed peoples of the world.

#IStandWithIlhan