Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota is facing criticism over her defense of her colleague Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, who referred to Israel as “racist” and was called out for her comments by both her Democratic and Republican colleagues.
In a Tuesday tweet, Omar wrote, “We spend too much time policing the language of Black and brown women who speak out against oppression and not enough time ending the oppression of Black and brown people.” Her comment received swift backlash, especially considering her own history of making antisemitic comments.
In 2021, Jayapal appeared on CNN and blamed Israel for the violence, which spurred a resolution that condemned her comments as antisemitic and “hateful misinformation.” Omar did not shy away from standing by her colleague’s side, instead asking Democrats to “accept [Jayapal’s] apology and move on.”
Regardless of Omar’s stance, many still agree that Jayapal’s comments were unacceptable and damaging. Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center wrote, “Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal has crossed the line calling Israel ‘racist.’ That kind of anti-Semitic language from a U.S. Congresswomen is hateful and unacceptable.”
Queueing in with similar comments, Rabbi Ezekiel Issac Malekar, head of Israel’s Old City Chabad, posted on Twitter that “There is probably no country on earth that can claim to be without sin in matters of racism,” but making blanket accusations is not something that should ever be done without more investigation.
Though Jayapal has since apologized for her comments, her words still revealed something very troubling – the presence of anti-Semitism within the Democratic party.
We spend too much time policing the language of Black and brown women who speak out against oppression and not enough time ending the oppression of Black and brown people. https://t.co/jnfqE25iLz
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) July 18, 2023
The fact that Omar openly defended Jayapal’s comments goes to show that antisemitism is still a problem within the Democratic party and that more needs to be done to combat it. Omar’s stance does not come as a surprise, considering her own endorsements by antisemitic organizations in the past.
With or without Omar’s defense, Jayapal’s comments were unacceptable and could have serious implications for the Democrats going forward. Unfortunately, Omar’s defense of these inflammatory comments only serves to further the growth of antisemitism in this country.
It is important that Dems like Omar recognize the consequences of not taking action against racism and that they take the necessary steps to move the Democratic party in the right direction—If there is even any hope for that party. Omar pulling the race card to defend bigoted comments just isn’t acceptable.