Progressives (Liberals)

But Muslims cannot forget so easily; it remains an open wound in their heart

I'm talking of Muslims, not Islam.

People didnt "hear" Ilhan Omar differently. They smeared her and bullied her into apologizing for speaking truth to power.

All those Dems in Congress who participated in smearing Ilhan today ARE NOT ON YOUR SIDE AND NEVER WILL BE

Omar’s tweet was a pretty clear example of the first kind of anti-Semitism. Plenty of Jews who are critical of the Israeli government, including me, found her comments offensive. It was false — support for Israel is complex and related to many more factors than just lobbyist money — and it played into centuries of conspiracy theories about Jewish money corrupting Western politics.

But it’s also clear that a lot of Omar’s critics don’t have much of a leg to stand on. Conservatives have been trying to label Omar an anti-Semite since she was elected in November, on the basis of fairly flimsy evidence. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the Republican House minority leader, blasted her tweet despite having sent his own tweet accusing prominent Jewish Democrats of trying to “buy” the 2018 election. Trump once told a room full of Jewish Republicans that “you’re not going to support me because I don’t want your money,” adding that “you want to control your politicians, that’s fine.”

The fact that Omar apologized under pressure, and that Trump and McCarthy have never faced real consequences for their use of anti-Semitic tropes, tells you everything you need know about the politics of anti-Semitism in modern America.

This is not to minimize Omar’s offense: Her tweet was ignorant at best, and she was right to apologize. If we’re trying to understand anti-Semitism in American politics, though, we need to be clear-eyed about where all the problems are — and what’s being done to address them...

You [Schumer] don't get to fearmonger to us about Russian money in US politics while taking Israeli money and answering to Israel's concerns over US concerns. All foreign money, all of it, out of US politics.

@edgarblythe,
I agree with you on this. I don't see it as attacking a religion, but as a powerful lobbying group which has an undue influence on the Israel/Palestine issue.

Last October, after a crude mail bomb was found in George Soros’s mailbox, Representative Kevin McCarthy, the California Republican who is now the House minority leader, tweeted, “We cannot allow Soros, Steyer and Bloomberg to buy this election!” The tweet, since deleted, was referring to Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg, both of them, like Soros, Jews who are often the object of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Speaking on CNN, Steyer, who had also been sent a mail bomb, described McCarthy’s tweet as a “straight-up anti-Semitic move.”

So it was a bit rich when, last week, McCarthy posed as the indignant defender of the Jewish people, threatening to force congressional action against two freshman Democratic representatives, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, for their criticism of Israel.

(...)

In truth, while Aipac’s influence is extensive, no one needs to pay off conservatives to make them support Israel. Evangelicals, a far bigger constituency than American Jews, tend to be pro-Israel for religious reasons; some believe that the return of Jews to their biblical homeland is a precondition for the rapture and the Second Coming of Christ. Plenty of others on the right love Israel because it’s a nationalistic, pro-American power in the middle of the Middle East. You can’t blame Jewish money for Kevin McCarthy’s terrible politics.

Not long after Pelosi’s statement, Omar released one of her own, apologizing “unequivocally.” She wrote, “Anti-Semitism is real and I am grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes.” Personally, I’m happy to accept her apology. Progressive American Muslims and Jews should be natural allies; our mutual future depends on deepening this country’s embattled commitment to multiethnic democracy. Prejudice helps bind the modern right together, but unchecked it can rip the left apart.

She wrote, “Anti-Semitism is real and I am grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes.” Personally, I’m happy to accept her apology. Progressive American Muslims and Jews should be natural allies; our mutual future depends on deepening this country’s embattled commitment to multiethnic democracy. Prejudice helps bind the modern right together, but unchecked it can rip the left apart.

The second reason is Israel's constant denial of their own crimes, and getting away with it since 1967.

I gather your point here is that criticism of Israeli policy (or even their internal affairs) does not equal anti-Semitism. And of course that would be a rather stupid equation.

The fundamental reason the idea has taken hold is a very effective propaganda campaign by Israeli governments, particularly the Likud party.

left with false cries of bigotry

you'd think the left in the US would figure it out at some point

Quote:

….. Representative Kevin McCarthy, the California Republican who is now the House minority leader, tweeted, “We cannot allow Soros, Steyer and Bloomberg to buy this election!” ...

The accord, struck late on Monday, contains US$1.375-billion – enough to build about 90 kilometres of wall along the border with Mexico – far short of the US$5.7-billion Mr. Trump had demanded. It is also less than the US$1.6-billion congressional leaders floated in a December deal the President rejected, triggering a 35-day government shutdown followed by two weeks of tense negotiations.

On the campaign trail in 2016, Mr. Trump promised to build a wall between 1,600 and 3,200 kilometres long – and paid for by Mexico. After more than two years in office, he has only secured funding to build about 125 kilometres, three-quarters of which would replace existing fencing. The bill is being footed by U.S. taxpayers.

the right-wing pundits most aligned with Mr. Trump’s agenda slammed the deal and, in some cases, mocked the President for even considering it.

“Trump talks a good game on the border wall but it’s increasingly clear he’s afraid to fight for it. Call this his ‘Yellow New Deal,’” Ann Coulter tweeted.

Fox News host Sean Hannity gave a look of disgust as he read out the US$1.3-billion figure on the air on Monday.

“Any Republican that supports this garbage compromise, you will have to explain,” he said.

The deal also contains funding for immigration detention beds that would hold roughly 45,000 people every day – a bid by Democrats to reduce the number of people being detained from the current 49,000.