First Muslim Women in US Congress Misled Voters About Views on Israel: gatestoneinstitute.org/13308/ilhan-om…
.@IlhanMN of Minnesota and @RashidaTlaib of Michigan will be the first two Muslim women ever to serve in the US Congress. Most of the media coverage since their election on November 6 has been effusive in praise of their Muslim identity and personal history.
Less known is that both women deceived voters about their positions on Israel. Both women, at some point during their rise in electoral politics, led voters — especially Jewish voters — to believe that they held moderate views on Israel. A
After being elected, both women reversed their positions and now say they are committed to sanctioning the Jewish state.
America's first two Muslim congresswomen are now both on record as appearing to oppose Israel's right to exist.
America's first two Muslim congresswomen are now both on record as appearing to oppose Israel's right to exist.
They both support the BDS movement. Both are also explicitly or implicitly opposed to military aid to Israel, as well as to a 2-state solution to the Israeli-Gazan conflict — an outcome that would establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Instead, they favor a one-state solution — an outcome that many analysts believe would, due to demographics over time, replace the Jewish state with a unitary Palestinian state.
In her acceptance speech, delivered without an American flag, Congresswoman-elect @IlhanMN opened her speech in Arabic with the greeting, "As-Salam Alaikum, (peace be upon you), alhamdulillah (praise be to Allah), alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah." She continued:
Omar faced some controversy during the campaign, including a disturbing report that she had married her own brother in 2009 for fraudulent purposes.
In May 2018, she tweeted that Israel as an "apartheid regime," and in another tweet from November 2012, she stated: "Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel."
After the tweets came to light, Omar met with members of her congressional district's large Jewish population to address concerns over her position on Israel.
During a Dem Party forum at Beth El Synagogue in St. Louis Park on August 6 — one week before Omar defeated four other candidates in the party's primary — Omar publicly criticized the anti-Israel BDS movement.
In front of an audience of more than a thousand people, Omar said she supported a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict and that the BDS movement aimed at pressuring Israel was not helpful in trying to achieve that goal.
Pressed by moderator Mary Lahammer to specify "exactly where you stand on that," Omar replied that the BDS movement was "counteractive" because it stopped both sides from coming together for "a conversation about how that's going to be possible."
Less than a week after being elected, however, Omar admitted that she supports the BDS movement. On November 11, Omar's office told the website MuslimGirl.com that she favors BDS against Israel:
"Ilhan believes in and supports the BDS movement, and has fought to make sure people's right to support it isn't criminalized. She does however, have reservations on the effectiveness of the movement in accomplishing a lasting solution."
On 11/12, Omar told TC Jewfolk, a website catering to the Jewish community, that her position on the BDS movement "has always been the same" and pointed to her vote against House bill HF 400, which prohibits MN from doing business with companies or orgs that boycott Israel
In a recent interview with the Star Tribune, Omar characterized the controversy over her tweets about Israel as an effort to "stigmatize and shame me into saying something other than what I believed."
In a 7/2018 interview for a segment entitled, "Progressive Democrats Increasingly Criticize Israel, and Could Reap Political Rewards," Omar said accusations of anti-Semitism "are w/out merit" and "rooted in bigotry toward a belief about what Muslims are stereotyped to believe."
On September 22, Omar was the keynote speaker in Minneapolis at a fundraiser focused on providing monetary support for Palestinians in Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas. The US Department of State has officially designated Hamas a terrorist group.
After the event, Omar tweeted:
"It was such an honor to attend the 'Dear Gaza' fundraiser ... I know Palestinians are resilient people, hateful protesters nor unjust occupation will dim their spirit."
"It was such an honor to attend the 'Dear Gaza' fundraiser ... I know Palestinians are resilient people, hateful protesters nor unjust occupation will dim their spirit."
In Michigan, meanwhile, @RashidaTlaib, the daughter of Gazan immigrants, won a largely uncontested race for the open seat in state's heavily Democratic 13th congressional district.
In Tlaib's acceptance speech, delivered with a Palestinian flag, she credited her victory to the Palestinian cause. "A lot of my strength comes from being Palestinian," she said.
Like Omar, Tlaib has changed her positions on key issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. During her race for the Democratic nomination in the state primary, Tlaib actively "sought out the support and received the endorsement of J Street."
J Street is a left-leaning organization that is highly critical of the Israel government, and through "JStreetPAC," it also allocates financial support to those who back J Street's policies.
J Street endorsed Tlaib "based on her support for 2 states" with JStreetPAC website claiming she "believes that the U.S. should be directly involved with negotiations to reach a 2-state solution. Additionally, she supports all current aid to Israel and the Palestinian Authority."
After her primary win on August 7, however, Tlaib radically shifted her positions on Israel, so much so that Haaretz suggested that she pulled a "bait-and-switch." #Taqiya
In an August 14 interview with In These Times magazine, Tlaib was asked whether she supported a one-state or two-state solution. She replied:
"One state. It has to be one state. Separate but equal does not work.... This whole idea of a two-state solution, it doesn't work."
"One state. It has to be one state. Separate but equal does not work.... This whole idea of a two-state solution, it doesn't work."
Tlaib also declared her opposition to US aid for Israel, as well as her support for the BDS movement.
In an August 13 interview with Britain's Channel 4, Tlaib revealed that she subscribes to the specious concept of intersectionality, which posits that the Israeli-Gaza conflict is fundamentally a dispute between "white supremacists" and "people of color."
When Tlaib was asked about her position on Israel, she replied, "I grew up in Detroit where every single corner of the district is a reminder of the civil rights movement."
When Tlaib was asked whether, once in Congress, she would vote to cut aid to Israel, she replied: "Absolutely. For me, US aid should be leverage."
On August 17, J Street withdrew its endorsement of Tlaib's candidacy.
Commentator Jonathan Tobin noted that many American Jews seemed indifferent to victories by these anti-Israel Democrats:
"The base of the Dem Party has been profoundly influenced by intersectional arguments that, like Tlaib's slurs, view the Gazan war on Israel akin to the struggle for civil rights in the United States...."
"For most [American Jews], Israel is, at best, just 1 among many issues they care about. That means most American Jews are far more interested in evicting US President Trump from the White House or expressing solidarity with illegal immigrants than about threats to Israel..."
"With many Jews expressing distaste for an 'illiberal' Israel, it's little surprise that the bulk of American Jewry isn't overly bothered about the election of Socialists who are unsympathetic to the Jewish state or consider Zionism to be racist."
It disturbs me that @TheDemocrats haven't loudly, in unison, denounced the anti-Semitism permeating their party, from members of @OfficialCBC & @KeithEllison, ties to @LouisFarrakhan, to Dem Socialists just elected in the midterms, to @womensmarch, @lsarsour & @TamikaDMallory
