• Live
    • Audio Only
  • google plus
  • facebook
  • twitter
News > U.S.

Ocasio-Cortez Defends Omar Amid Onslaught of Anti-Semitism Accusations

  • U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for House members to initiate a respectful and inclusive dialogue.

    U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for House members to initiate a respectful and inclusive dialogue. | Photo: EFE

Published 5 March 2019
Opinion

“If House leadership is creating a standard… then that's a clear way to address the issue & we can all understand,” Ocasio tweeted.

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticized members of the House, denouncing their behavior towards congressional freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar as “xenophobic,” “racist.”

RELATED: 

Outrage Over Anti-Muslim Poster That Ties Ilhan Omar With 9/11

Since mid-February when Omar suggested that members of U.S. Congress support Israel because of money they receive from the pro-Israel lobbying groups, both Republican and Democratic politicians have accused the young Minnesotan representative of anti-Semitism.

From her twitter account, Ocasio Cortez wrote, “It’s not my position to tell people how to feel, or that their hurt is invalid.

"But incidents like these do beg the question: where are the resolutions against homophobic statements? For anti-blackness? For xenophobia? For a member saying he’ll 'send Obama home to Kenya?,” she said, referencing comments made by Rep. Mark Meadows against the then-president Barack Obama in 2012.

“One of the things that is hurtful about the extent to which reprimand is sought of Ilhan is that no one seeks this level of reprimand when members make statements about Latinx + other communities (during the shutdown, a GOP member yelled “Go back to Puerto Rico,” she wrote.

"If House leadership is creating a standard & committing to calling a resolution for every incident ... then thats a clear way to address the issue & we can all understand. But if they’re not, I think it’s valid to ask why not," the New York Native asked.

This Wednesday, the House plans to introduce a resolution to denounce anti-Semitism in modern-day life and politics in the U.S. and to settle the issue between Omar and the other diplomats once and for all, a statement from Washington said.

Spokeswoman Heidi Hess of the progressive advocacy group, CREDO, rejected the democratic leadership in regards to Omar’s case, saying, “Rep. Omar’s willingness to voice badly needed and substantive critiques about Israeli government policies and disturbing trends in American foreign policy has earned her public condemnation, slander, and even threats of physical violence.

"Instead of throwing her under the bus. Democratic leadership should have Rep. Omar's back in pushing back against increasingly dangerous attacks and threats from the far right," Hess said.

The smear campaign against Omar exposed an Israeli-driven narrative that rejects any difference between anti-Semitism and legitimate criticism of Israel which resulted in mounting pressure against Omar that not only was she made to apologize, but also U.S. President Donald Trump called on her to resign from the Congress. Many found that ironic given the fact that many have been calling on Trump to resign for years over more serious racist and xenophobic comments.

Only a few politicians came to her defense, supporting her criticism of U.S, government, AIPAC, among many other topics. However, Ocasio-Cortez was not one of them, joining the league of critics and calling for Omar to apologize.

Comment
0
Comments
Post with no comments.