As a strong Jewish Democrat I am outraged that my Party is taking a stand against the only person, a Muslim, who is speaking the truth about Israel's treatment of Palestine and its inordinate power over the US Congress. Rep Ilhan Omar stated that Israel's control of Congress is through money, "the Benjamins". Nothing could be more obvious, and yet she was attacked. Instead of standing up for her the Democratic Party is, once again, eating its own.
Equally egregious is your conflating anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism thus demeaning the real and growing anti-Semitism in this country and beyond. Omar's comments were anti-Zionist, they were not anti-Semitic. The real anti-Semitism in this country is coming from the Right. If you really cared about growing anti-Semitism, you’d be leading the charge against white supremacy that’s publicly fueled by members of Congress like Rep. Jim Jordan, and slamming those who put a poster up linking Rep. Omar to the 9/11 attacks. In a time of the rise of actual anti-Semitism, exploiting anti-Semitism to shut down debate about Israel is infuriating. It serves no one, least of all Jews and Democrats. I am Jewish, pro-Semitic, anti-Zionist (as are MANY others) and I support Rep Ilhan Omar 100%.
Judith Simon