O pinion
Does Omar Understand Impact of Spikol
Her Words?
on to become a lawyer. At
Continued from Page 14
BY BETH KIEFFER LEONARD
MINNESOTANS ARE NO
strangers to political trailblaz-
ing, however, we are also known
for honesty and kindness.

U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar is cer-
tainly a trailblazer, yet her recent
anti-Semitic tweets and state-
ments are deeply offensive. They
have caused consternation among
Minnesota voters, including
myself, not just for their insen-
sitivity, but because they further
call into question whether she is
listening to her constituents.

When the then-Minnesota
state representative began her bid
for Congress, many in the Jewish
community were concerned. As
far back as 2012, she had char-
acterized Israel as an “apartheid
state” and tweeted that “Israel has
hypnotized the world.” The Jewish
Democratic Council of America
(JDCA), an organization with
which I am affiliated, condemned
Omar’s statements in August, stat-
ing “JDCA will not support her
candidacy — and certainly will
not endorse her — because her
views are not aligned with our
positions and values.”
As Omar’s campaign pro-
gressed, and as the public criticism
of her views on Israel intensi-
fied, Omar tweeted “I support
a two-state solution. The Jewish
people have a right to safety and
Palestinians have a right to their
homes.” She did not retract or
explain any of her previous state-
ments, but this seemed to be a step
in the right direction.

Later in the election, during a
forum held at a local synagogue,
Omar was asked about Israel
and about whether she sup-
ports the boycott, divestment
and sanctions (BDS) move-
ment. Omar responded that
BDS “stops the dialogue” and
is “counteractive” to achieving
a two-state solution, implying
that she opposed BDS.

It was only after she won
her election in November that
16 MARCH 7, 2019
Omar’s campaign publicly
stated, “Ilhan believes in and
supports the BDS movement.”
Many Minnesotans right-
fully felt deceived by a can-
didate making judgment calls
based on political expedience
and not principle. Some believe
she lied about her position on
BDS in order to get elected.

In January, Omar finally
apologized for her 2012 tweet,
only to follow it with another
set of anti-Semitic tweets in
February resurrecting the cen-
turies-old anti-Semitic canard
that Jewish money controls
American foreign policy.

The apology she then issued,
after pressure from Democratic
House leadership and dozens
of individual House Democrats,
seemed insincere. The first half
was an apology and the second
half equated pro-Israel lobby-
ing with the NRA and fossil
fuel industry. The first tweet she
posted after her apology was a
retweet of someone defending
her original allegation regard-
ing the so-called influence of
Jewish money in politics.

Just last week, at a public
speaking event, Omar accused
the pro-Israel community of
allegiance to a foreign coun-
try, evoking yet another classic
anti-Semitic trope — that of
dual loyalty to both the United
States and Israel. She also
claimed that Jewish lawmak-
ers were targeting her because
she was Muslim and critical of
Israel when, in fact, as JDCA
pointed out, her anti-Semitic
comments would have been
condemned if made by any
member of Congress, regard-
less of party or background.

To be clear, criticism of
Israeli government policy is not
inherently anti-Semitic. JDCA
itself, for example, has crit-
icized Israel’s nation-state law
and Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu’s alliance with an
extremist Israeli political party
because both were out of step
with our Democratic values.

When criticism of Israel invokes
anti-Semitic references or gener-
alizes negative stereotypes about
the Jewish people as a whole
however, it crosses the line.

Those who know the history
of Minnesota know that it was
rife with anti-Semitism not so
long ago. We were once strang-
ers ourselves, which is why the
Jewish community has wel-
comed and provided support for
so many refugee groups, includ-
ing our large Somali population.

Yet somehow, that seems to
make Omar’s words hurt more.

She does not seem to understand
the pain her words have caused
in the Jewish community and
among her Jewish constituents.

Omar has only just begun her
career, and she has already lost
credibility with Minnesotans,
her colleagues in Congress,
and other political leaders. Her
apologies ring hollow because
she continues to use anti-Se-
mitic rhetoric. If this conduct
continues, allowing her to con-
tinue to “learn on the job” will
become untenable.

For this reason, we support
efforts by Democratic leaders to
pass a resolution responding to
Omar’s remarks and condemn-
ing anti-Semitism, ensuring she
receives the message that her
words have consequences.

We must exhaust every possi-
bility in pursuit of understanding.

Now, however, it is incumbent on
Omar to immediately stop with
the hurtful language targeting the
Jewish community. We would not
allow such stereotypes to be used
against any religious minority,
and must continue to stand up
against hatred and bigotry in all
forms, including anti-Semitism. l
Beth Kieffer Leonard is the
treasurer and a founding member
of the Board of Directors of the
Jewish Democratic Council of
America (JDCA).

JEWISH EXPONENT
voices, such as women, LGBTQ
writers and Jews of color. We
will continue to offer coverage of
every stream of Judaism without
prejudice, and we will do our
level best to provide balanced
reporting and analysis that rep-
resents all political viewpoints.

In all my years as an editor, the
past couple of years have, in many
ways, been the most challenging.

The news media has encountered
extraordinary change as digital
media has evolved, and for the first
time in my memory, the notion
that a free press is essential to the
functioning of a healthy democ-
racy has actually come under
attack. People in every commu-
nity are divided, but the divisions
in the Jewish community make
the business of Jewish journal-
ism especially tough, as I learned
from many colleagues at the most
recent American Jewish Press
Association conference. Coming
in as an editor in this climate, I
know that no matter how carefully
I tread, there will be people who
disagree with the decisions I make
or imagine that I’m motivated by a
particular agenda. But I can assure
you: I have no agenda to pursue
other than presenting a robust
and interesting portrait of Jewish
Philadelphia today. l
the other Jewish papers, my
instructions to writers and edi-
tors has been twofold: If some-
thing of interest happens in the
local Jewish community, peo-
ple should know that they’ll
read about it in our paper;
and if something of note hap-
pens in the Jewish community
nationally or internationally,
readers should expect to learn
from us how it’s impacting the
local community.

Readers don’t pick up our
weekly publications to find out
what’s happening in the news:
They turn on TV news for that,
or go online. But they do turn
to weekly papers for stories
that aren’t told elsewhere, for
analysis, for articles that strad-
dle the line between news and
human interest. They read us
for strong voices and stories
that bring out the best, most
compelling elements of a nar-
rative. We hope to do all that.

I have instructed our very
able writers to feel free to get
creative and write about what
interests them; writers do their
best work when they’re passion-
ate. I’ve also put a call out for
opinion submissions, including lspikol@jewishexponent.com;
those from oft-underrepresented 215-832-0747
Bronstein Continued from Page 14
immigrant communities soon
turned to anger as the causes
of the fire were discovered.

Abhorrent working conditions
were exposed, and the public
demand for changes was fer-
vent, as the causes were pre-
ventable. Renewed energy was
poured into the labor movement
to improve women- and immi-
grant-rights in the workplace.

We remember those who lost
their lives and their dreams in the
flames. May their memories be
for a blessing and may we find the
fortitude still today to advocate
for laws that protect workers,
women and immigrants. l
locked by managers to prevent
stealing and people from leav-
ing the building. The single
fire escape quickly collapsed
from the fire and the firefight-
ers’ ladders were too short to
reach the eighth, ninth and
10th floors. Many of the young
female workers jumped into
safety nets but were killed as
the nets ripped upon contact.

The fire spread rapidly and,
in the end, 146 workers —
overwhelmingly young girls —
were killed.

This catastrophe touched
the entire New York City area Marcia Bronstein is the regional
and the nation. The grief in director of AJC.

JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



L IFESTYLES /C ULTURE
Exhibit Links Climate Change, Art, Tikkun Olam
AR T
SELAH MAYA ZIGHELBOIM | JE STAFF
AT THIS POINT in Diane
Burko’s artistic career, she
needs a little more than just the
promise of an audience to get
her to agree to an exhibition.

So when a Congregation
Rodeph Shalom board member
told her about the potential
educational and social pro-
gramming she could have at
the synagogue, Burko’s interest
was piqued.

Th at’s how Th e Philadelphia
Museum of Jewish Art, located
at Rodeph Shalom on Broad
Street, ended up with “Repairing
Our Earth (Tikkun Olam),”
an exhibition of paintings and
photography around the theme
of climate change. Th e exhibit is
now open through April 2.

A synagogue is not her
usual venue, Burko noted.

She is a nationally renowned
artist, and her work has been
shown in numerous muse-
ums and galleries, including
her most recent exhibit at the
National Academy of Sciences
in Washington, D.C. But with
this exhibit, Rodeph Shalom
gave her the opportunity to
reach out to new audiences.

“Being that I’ve had, I don’t
know, maybe 100 shows or
more all over the country, I
don’t need another show,” said
Burko, who is Jewish. “I don’t
need a resume at this point.”
But Burko is using this
exhibit as a platform to speak
about climate change. She gave
a lecture to the congregation
in the sanctuary in December,
and spoke to some of the syn-
agogue’s Hebrew school stu-
dents in January.

“I’ve been an artist for over
40 years, and basically, the
content of my work has always
been the landscape — mostly
monumental, geological kind of
landscape,” Burko said. “I did
a project on volcanoes, where
I went to many sites. I did a
project on the Grand Canyon.

JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Nunatak Glacier #1 and #2
Geology’s in my blood.”
For this exhibit, Rodeph
Shalom reached out to Cynthia
Veloric, a researcher at the
Philadelphia Museum of Art, to be
the guest curator. Veloric worked
with Burko to conceive and exe-
cute “Repairing Our Earth.”
Veloric started by looking
for a new way to frame Burko’s
work that would connect to the
synagogue. She found that con-
nection through the concept of
tikkun olam. Veloric included
quotes from Jewish scholars
and texts about caring for the
Earth throughout the exhibit.

“I took that phrase — tik-
kun olam — and made it
more specifi c to repairing the
Earth and our seas, creating
an action in thought and deed
that would help repair the
physical Earth,” said Veloric,
who is involved with Beth
David Reform Congregation in
Gladwyne and is a supporter
of the Jewish Federation of
Greater Philadelphia. “I felt that
her work on behalf of climate
change ... is a social action as
well as a work of art. Everything
she does is connected to her
mission to educate and inform
and hopefully change people’s
minds about the state of the
planet right now.”
Landscapes have long cap-
tured Burko’s imagination. Th ey
combine color and composition
in a way that speak to her. Even
before environmental activism
became a part of her work, she
would go out into landscapes to
paint and photograph.

Burko, a native New Yorker,
movement, though
her art didn’t delve
into that issue.

Over the years, she
learned more about
climate change from
Al Gore’s Inconvenient
Truth and Elizabeth
Kolbert’s Field Notes
From a Catastrophe.

Climate change was
transforming her
Diane Burko landscapes, so she
began to incorporate
moved to Philadelphia to go to environmental activism into
graduate school at the University her art, blending her political
of Pennsylvania. Aft er complet- and artistic selves.

“Climate change was in
ing her MFA in 1969, she stayed
in the city because real estate the air in the 2000s,” Burko
was cheaper. She could aff ord said. “It occurred to me that I
her own studio and got a job should be doing more than just
teaching at the Community making beautiful images of
landscapes. I needed to make
College of Philadelphia.

She described herself as a sure they would continue to be
“political animal.” In the ’70s, with us, that the planet wasn’t
she was active in the feminist going to be destroyed with
fi res and droughts and fl oods.

I decided my work could have
more meaning for me and for
the audience if it had a social
practice component in it.”
Her work has taken her
around the world, from the
glaciers of the Antarctic to
the coral reefs of the Pacifi c
Ocean, to bear witness to cli-
mate change. She has studied
NASA and NOAA repeat pho-
tography and has spoken to
scientists about the issue. She
has also attended conferences,
where she has talked about
how art can communicate the
issue of climate change.

“I’m steeped in it,” Burko
said. “It’s a wonderful way to
bring a lot of who I am together.

My work and my beliefs are all
one piece.” ●
szighelboim@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0729
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