House Dems agonize over Ilhan Omar

Congress

The freshman Democrat is clashing with senior lawmakers over her remarks on Israel.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and top Democrats are confronting a new controversy involving freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar, who has defied her colleagues’ calls to apologize for recent comments viewed as anti-Semitic.

Public scrutiny over the Minnesota Democrat intensified over the weekend as two of the House’s most senior Democrats condemned Omar’s remarks accusing pro-Israel advocates of “allegiance to a foreign country.” And the problem threatens to get worse for Democratic leaders, with Omar refusing her colleagues’ calls to retract her statements.

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House Appropriations Chairwoman Nita Lowey on Sunday called out Omar’s use of “offensive, painful stereotypes” — leading to an awkward Twitter clash as Omar dug in on her comments and was cheered by some on the left.

“Our democracy is built on debate, Congresswoman!” Omar wrote, later adding, “I have not mischaracterized our relationship with Israel, I have questioned it and that has been clear from my end.”

Members of the Democratic caucus spent the weekend privately debating how to handle the freshman’s latest controversy involving accusations of anti-Semitism. Just three weeks earlier, Pelosi and her top lieutenants issued a rare public rebuke of Omar’s previous remarks that suggested pro-Israel groups were using their financial heft to shape U.S.-Middle East policy.

The backlash continued on Monday, as the Anti-Defamation League wrote a letter to Pelosi calling for a House resolution to specifically reject what the organization calls Omar’s “latest slur.”

“We urge you and your colleagues to send the unambiguous message that the United States Congress is no place for hate,” the group’s CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, wrote in a letter.

Nearly a dozen pro-Israel groups also urged Pelosi to oust Omar from her coveted spot on the House Foreign Relations Committee.

The chairman of that committee, Rep. Eliot Engel, who is Jewish, called out Omar for a “vile anti-Semitic slur” over the weekend, but did not call for her to be removed from the committee.

But Omar has received support from prominent progressive figures, including fellow freshman Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Minn.) — the first Palestinian-American congresswoman, who has also strongly argued that U.S. policy toward Israel should be overhauled. Another popular progressive, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), has also come to Omar’s defense.

In response to Lowey’s criticism, Tlaib defended Omar and said she had been “targeted just like many civil rights icons before us who spoke out about oppressive policies.”

Omar this year became the first Somali-American and, along with Tlaib, the first Muslim woman to serve in Congress.

Omar has also been targeted by anti-Muslim attacks. Last week, an Islamophobic poster displayed at an event sponsored by the West Virginia GOP appeared to link her to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The poster included a photo of the World Trade Center buildings on fire and a photo of Omar below it.

Omar called out her Democratic colleagues for largely failing to come to her defense even as she faced growing criticism for her comments about Israel. Lowey did condemn the “gross islamophobic stereotypes” in her tweet on Sunday, but Pelosi and other top Democrats have not specifically responded.

Omar and Tlaib have relished making public their opposition to Israeli policies — from settlements in Palestinian territories to the lobbying influence of AIPAC — in a way that has struck a nerve with Jewish lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Omar’s positions have directly challenged a decades-old plank of U.S. foreign policy: unfaltering U.S. support for Israel.

“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 wrote on Twitter in response to Lowey.

Omar’s previous comments scrutinizing the political influence of AIPAC last month — when she tweeted the phrase, “It’s all about the Benjamins baby” — drew sharp scrutiny on Capitol Hill.

Omar apologized for that statement, though House Republicans still pushed a resolution condemning anti-Semitism, without specifically naming Omar. The measure was overwhelmingly approved on the floor, including winning Omar’s vote.