O pinion
Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Tweet
Is Exactly Why We Need AIPAC
BY MICHAEL HAREL
AFTER WIDESPREAD con-
demnations of recent tweets by
Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar
as anti-Semitic, Binghamton
University Pipe Dream’s opin-
ions editor Sarah Molano
claimed that “Democrats are
doing all they can to stifle
the more progressive views of
these officials.”
When progressivism
becomes hateful, it is inher-
ently no longer progressive.

Therefore, Molano’s article,
which downplays a deeply hate-
ful comment that sent shock-
waves through the Jewish
community, is curious; as a
strong supporter of minority
rights, she should know better
than to claim what is or is not
offensive to a minority group.

Historically, anti-Semitism
has evolved with politics, and
this is once again occurring
with the emergence of ever-
more virulent anti-Zionism.

While criticism of the Israeli
government is understand-
able, Omar has consistently
and without fail referenced
anti-Semitic tropes through
unfounded criticism of the
Jewish state and its American
lobbies. It is vital that such
anti-Semitism guised as pro-
gressive criticism of Israel be
continuously exposed, rather
than defended in university
publications. On Feb. 10, Omar was met
with resounding criticism for
a tweet that was both factually
incorrect and rife with anti-Se-
mitic tropes. She tweeted that
American support for Israel
and condemnations of her pre-
vious actions as anti-Semitic
were “all about the Benjamins.”
Then, in a following tweet,
she claimed that AIPAC, the
pro-Israel lobbying group, is
responsible for purchasing
this support.

Fundamentally, it cannot
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM be overemphasized that com-
parisons between AIPAC and
lobbying organizations such
as the NRA, which lobby
Congress for monetary profit,
are nonsensical. Despite its
name, AIPAC is not a PAC,
and does not actually pay can-
didates or politicians. Rather,
it works to organize American
citizens around a shared cause,
helping them better voice
their concerns.

Additionally, AIPAC’s mission
is the survival of the Jewish
state, and thereby the Jewish
people; its agenda is virtuous.

About 6.6 million of the world’s
approximately 14.7 million
Jews live in Israel. Without the
country, these Jews would be
at the mercy of hostile entities,
such as Iran, whose supreme
leader Ayatollah Khamenei
recently declared that “Israel is
a malignant cancerous tumor
in the West Asian region that
has to be removed and eradi-
cated.” Without Israel, world
Jewry would again become a
people without a home — a
people who would endure tire-
less persecution as they have
throughout history.

In her piece, Molano cites
anti-BDS legislation as sup-
posed evidence of Omar’s
claim that legislators have been
bought off by AIPAC to support
unethical legislation. However,
Molano mischaracterizes BDS
as a movement whose “aim
is to end international sup-
port for Israel’s policies that
oppress Palestinians,” when in
reality the movement’s inten-
tions are not so pure. To truly
understand an organization’s
goals, look to the leaders; in
the case of BDS, its leaders are
not afraid to express their true
intentions. BDS co-founder
Omar Barghouti has openly
declared, “Most definitely, we
oppose a Jewish state in any
part of Palestine.”
That being said, of course,
Israel can be criticized like any
other country. In fact, Israelis
are often the first to do so. One
can criticize the settler move-
ment or the need for greater
civil rights for Palestinians.

But when Israel is the only
country whose existence is
consistently questioned or
when the fault of the conflict is
placed solely on its shoulders,
criticism is no longer honest
but rather irrational and even
anti-Semitic. Palestinian leadership has
consistently demonstrated a
commitment to the destruction
of Israel rather than to peace,
as demonstrated in 1948, and
later in 2000 and 2008, when
they rejected generous offers
to establish a state in the West
Bank and eastern Jerusalem.

When these historical realities
are willfully ignored, there is a
clear double standard applied
to Israel that leads to dehu-
manization, not peace.

The sting Omar’s words
inflicted was especially sharp
because it targeted a sensitive
area — the ancient and destruc-
tive conspiracy that Jews con-
trol the world’s money. It was
simply a statement rooted in
hate, which at a minimum
was a breach in the line of
what is acceptable. Testing the
boundaries of anti-Semitism is
a dangerous and increasingly
common phenomenon perpe-
trated by politicians on both
sides of the spectrum and must
be condemned by all.

Although Omar apologized,
her sincerity is doubtful con-
sidering she once again made
headlines by questioning the loy-
alty of Americans who support
Israel, when she said, “I want to
talk about the political influence
in this country that says it is OK
for people to push for allegiance
to a foreign country.” She also
used a similarly heinous Jewish
See Harel, Page 18
JEWISH EXPONENT
KVETCH ’N KVELL
New Editor Too Left-Wing, Not Attentive to
Hamentaschen I WAS APPALLED, astonished and, even more, saddened and
scared that in the March 14 issue of the Jewish Exponent there
was no mention of the recent events that had occurred in our
country’s capital. You cannot imagine how I waited all week to
see how our community would respond to the ugly words we
heard in the halls of Congress, words triggered by even uglier
words from a duly elected representative, Ilhan Omar. But not
a word.

If this is what it means to be Jewish in Philadelphia, I might
have to be counted out. I can’t abide those who claim any leader-
ship capacity while remaining silent. What has happened to you?
Have you no responsibility to speak up when things are amiss?
Or are you too Democratic (as in Democratic Party members)
that you fear repercussions?
And, to add insult to injury, imagine the shock when I
read it’s recommended I bake “cookies” and not hamentaschen
(“Cookie-Making for Purim with Young Bakers,” March 14)!
Hey, at least include hamentaschen as an alternative. Are you
going to recommend challah baking for Pesach?!
Linda S. Herman | Philadelphia
New Editor Too Right-Wing, Getting Old
Years ago, when I was regularly reading Liz Spikol in the
Philadelphia Weekly, I could not have imagined that 1) a time will
come when she’d be the editor-in-chief of the Exponent (congrats
for that!) and 2) that when she’d publish an article written by
the former mayor of a West Bank settlement, she’d refer to that
settlement as “Shiloh, Israel.”
Since I do not recall ever seeing such a blatantly right-wing
statement in the Exponent other than inside an opinion piece,
this merits a “wow.” I guess it’s true what they say about what
happens to many of us when we get older ... l
Ben Joseph | Philadelphia
No Foolin’ This Time
Re: the Exponent’s 2019 Purim spiel [March 14], when I was
a kid growing up in Wynnefield in the ’50s, I came across the
name of Hubert Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff Jr. in the
phone book. Friends and I would occasionally prank call him
and then hang up. His name appears to have been several letters
longer than Ms. Rubinitvitzkyman-Satzbergerkatzbaum — and
had no hyphens.

Jay S. Rosen | Boca Raton, Florida
Statement From the Publisher
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published in the Jewish Exponent are those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect
the views of the officers and boards of the Jewish Publishing Group and/or the Jewish
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MARCH 21, 2019
17