After Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Comments House Voted to Condemn anti-Semitism
- By C Barnett --
- 10 Mar 2019 --
The vote was in favor 407-23.
The House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted in favor of a resolution condemning bigotry, Islamophobia, and racism along with anti-Semitism.[/tweetit] Democrats hope this move will suppress the latest uproar concerning Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar’s fierce criticism of Israel. The result of the vote was 407-23. The opposed were exclusively from the GOP camp. Representative Steve King, who suffered the indignity of being stripped of all committee assignments recently after multiple years of hateful, bigoted comments, also voted.
After Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Comments House Voted to Condemn anti-Semitism [/tweetthis]
The March 7 resolution was necessitated after Omar questioned the apparent pro-Israel lobby influencing United States politics. The comments were made inside a coffee shop in Washington, D.C. The Representative said she wanted to talk about a specific political influence which normalizes the intention of a few individuals to push for a foreign nation’s allegiance. She then continued to say as to why it is acceptable to have a discourse concerning the influence of Big Pharma, NRA, or fossil fuel industries but not a word concerning a powerful lobbying entity which drops a shadow on American politics. For many lawmakers, Omar’s comments pandered to the trope of “dual loyalty” accusations which have been utilized to persecute Jews from time immemorial.
For Omar, this is not the first time her words have ignited contentious debate on the political battleground of Capitol Hill. Some lawmakers, both Democrat and Republican, view her rhetoric as intensely anti-Semitic. The vote was a mechanism to rebuke Omar, even though her name is not mentioned in the resolution. This vote was the second vote on the same issue. The resolution states that bigotry, racism, dual loyalty imputations, discrimination, and oppression threaten U.S. democracy and hold no place within American politics. Such connotations are unacceptable from any facet of the political spectrum, be it the left, center, or the right.
Why doesn't the house vote to condemn Omar?
— Don Nace (@nacede43) March 7, 2019
The voting measure was a carefully crafted one, with one Democratic aide nicknaming it a “kitchen-sink resolution.” It was a high point for a particularly eventful week for Democrats who suddenly discovered themselves cleaved along religious and racial fissures. Many debates focused on how the Democrats can respond to remarks made by Representative Omar. Even though several Democrats made clear they would vote to favor the resolution, the latter’s comprehensive approach troubled a few Jewish Democrats. The latter had initially pushed a measure which exclusively condemns anti-Semitism.
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