[ An article to think about ]
But it’s also clear that a lot of Omar’s critics don’t have much of a leg to stand on. Conservatives have been trying to label Omar an anti-Semite
since she was elected in November, on the basis of
fairly flimsy evidence. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the Republican House minority leader, blasted her tweet despite having
sent his own tweet accusing prominent Jewish Democrats of trying to “buy” the 2018 election.
Trump once told a room full of Jewish Republicans that “
you’re not going to support me because I don’t want your money,” adding that “
you want to control your politicians, that’s fine.”
The fact that Omar apologized under pressure, and that Trump and McCarthy have never faced real consequences for their use of anti-Semitic tropes, tells you everything you need know about the politics of anti-Semitism in modern America.
This is not to minimize Omar’s offense: Her tweet was ignorant at best, and she was right to apologize. If we’re trying to understand anti-Semitism in American politics, though, we need to be clear-eyed about where all the problems are — and what’s being done to address them.
There are two core truths about this incident. First, Omar’s statement was unacceptable. Second, Republicans going after her — including the president — should spend less time on Democrats and more time dealing with the far worse anti-Semitism problem on the right.
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It’s true that in some cases, all criticism of Israel or AIPAC, even if it’s legitimate, is labeled anti-Semitic — and that’s a real problem. Omar’s faith has made her a particular target, and it’s fair to want to defend her against these smears in the abstract.
But the specifics of Omar’s tweet make things quite different. In the original context — where she was quote-tweeting Greenwald— she says that US lawmakers’ support for Israel is “all” about money. Yes, it’s a
Puff Daddy reference, but she’s a member of Congress and maybe should be a little more careful about the implications of what she says:
There are two problems here: First, the tweet isn’t true. The US-Israel alliance has
deeper and more fundamental roots than just cash, including the legacy of Cold War geopolitics, evangelical theology, and shared strategic interests in counterterrorism. Lobbying certainly plays a role, but to say that “US political leaders” defending Israel is “all” about money is to radically misstate how America’s Israel politics work (and
discount the findings of the scholars who study it).
Second, and more important, totalizing statements like this play into the most troubling anti-Semitic stereotypes.
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, an infamous early-20th-century Russian forgery, describes a plot by Jewish moneyed interests to subvert and destroy Christian societies through their finances. This in turn draws on
longstanding European anti-Semitic traditions that portray Jews as greedy and conniving.
After World War II and the creation of the state of Israel, the conspiracy theory shifted. Anti-Semites started using “Zionist” or “Zio” as a stand-in for “Jewish,” using Jewish activism in favor of the Jewish state as proof that they were right all along about the Jewish conspiracy. David Duke, the former Louisiana state representative and Ku Klux Klan grand wizard, released
a YouTube video in 2014 that bills itself as an “illustrated” update of the Protocols. The video features footage of leading Democratic and Republican politicians speaking to pro-Israel groups, with the caption “both are in the grips of Zio money, Zio media, and Zio bankers.”
“Do you really think, in politics, that he who pays the piper doesn’t call the tune?” Duke asks rhetorically.
Omar is, of course, not coming from the same hateful place as Duke is. But by using too-similar language, she unintentionally provides mainstream cover for these conspiracy theories. After her comments, Duke
repeatedly defended her, even
tweeting a meme that said “it took a Muslim congresswoman to actually stand up & tell the truth that we ALL know” (he rescinded the praise after her apology).
This is not to equate Duke and Omar — which, to be clear, would be absurd — but rather to point out how if you’re not careful when talking about pro-Israel lobbying, you can provide ammunition to some awful people. By saying that US support for Israel is “all” about money, Omar was essentially mainstreaming ideas that have their roots in anti-Semitism, helping make them more acceptable to voice on the left.
What’s more, this kind of sincere willingness to reconsider past comments is characteristic of Omar. She had previously gotten flak for a tweet about Israel “hypnotizing” the world, and
recently gave a lengthy and thoughtful apology for the connection to anti-Semitic tropes during an appearance on The Daily Show.
“I had to take a deep breath and understand where people were coming from and what point they were trying to make, which is what I expect people to do when I’m talking to them, right, about things that impact me or offend me,” she told host Trevor Noah.
This is not the kind of behavior you see from deeply committed anti-Semites.
Yair Rosenberg, a journalist at the Jewish magazine Tablet who frequently writes about anti-Semitism, argued on Monday that Omar has earned the benefit of the doubt:
This is what it looks like when the system works. A member of Congress says something offensive, most of her party explains why it’s wrong, and then she issues a sincere apology and demonstrates an interest in changing. That is a healthy party dealing with bad behavior in a healthy way.
This is not what you see on the Republican side when it comes to most forms of bigotry — up to and including anti-Semitism.
Take McCarthy, the House minority leader, whose campaign to stigmatize Omar and fellow Muslim Rep. Rashida Tlaib kicked off this whole incident. Last summer, McCarthy sent a tweet accusing three Democratic billionaires of Jewish descent — George Soros, Tom Steyer, and Michael Bloomberg — of trying to buy the midterm election:
As many noted at the time, this kind of tweet engages in exactly the kind of Protocols-esque rhetoric that Republicans have condemned Omar for. Yet McCarthy quietly deleted the tweet, with nothing like the level of internal criticism from his own party that Omar has faced.
Around the same time, President Trump claimed that protesters against Brett Kavanaugh were being paid by Soros:
(full article online)
Omar’s tweet was bad. But the Republican reaction was profoundly hypocritical.
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