Ayanna Pressley and Elizabeth Warren come to Ilhan Omar’s defense in wake of Israel criticism
“Branding criticism of Israel as automatically anti-Semitic has a chilling effect on our public discourse."
Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Sen. Elizabeth Warren are voicing support for Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, in the wake of violent threats against the Minnesota congresswomen for her criticism of Israel.
Omar has been repeatedly accused by both Democrats and Republicans of employing anti-Semitic stereotypes in her criticism of the United States’ support for Israel amid the Middle Eastern country’s treatment of Palestinians. However, some progressives, like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, argue the allegations against Omar are “bad-faith arguments” aimed at dividing Democrats and/or stifling criticism of Israel’s human rights record.
In a statement Wednesday night, Warren said a democracy must be able to “combat hateful ideologies,” while also allowing for a policy-focused debate about Middle East policy.
“Branding criticism of Israel as automatically anti-Semitic has a chilling effect on our public discourse and makes it harder to achieve a peaceful solution between Israelis and Palestinians,” the Massachusetts senator said. “Threats of violence — like those made against Rep. Omar — are never acceptable.”
Threats of violence—like those made against Rep. @IlhanMN—are never acceptable. pic.twitter.com/TAvgd4lCtz
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) March 7, 2019
Pressley also stood up for her fellow “squad” member. In her own statement Wednesday, the 7th District congresswoman denounced “all forms of hatred and discrimination, including white supremacy, racism, transphobia, ableism, sexism, homophobia, anti-Semitism, islamophobia and xenophobia.”
“There is no hierarchy of hurt,” she said.
Pressley joined Ocasio-Cortez and others, including Jewish progressives, who accused Omar’s Republican critics of a double standard, given President Donald Trump’s past comments about Jews, minorities, and immigrants, as well as other prominent GOP elected officials accused of anti-Semitism.
“We should have equity in our outrage,” said the Dorchester Democrat.
“As representatives of the people, we should be promoting civil discourse and denouncing all forms of hate, specifically the hate spewing from the Trump Administration that has normalized hate across the nation,” she said. “The occupant of this White House is seeding every form of hate, emboldening it with racist rhetoric and prejudice policies. His discriminatory, misogynistic and racist behavior has put our democracy and our humanity in jeopardy. We must center our dialogue on those too often marginalized and work towards building common ground and understanding so we can best serve the American people.”
In response to the latest controversy, the Democrat-controlled House passed a resolution Thursday condemning anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and bigotry against minorities. House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi told reporters earlier in the day that she didn’t think Omar’s comments were “intended in any anti-Semitic way,” but that the 37-year-old perhaps didn’t understand “the weight” of how her words were heard by others.
