By: Azhar Azam
Of course, nobody could ever forget 9/11 terrorist attacks that killed 2,753 people in the United States. Not a soul should either ignore the enormous death toll of 480,000-507,000 in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan, in the aftermath of the U.S.-led war on terror.
The statisticians can count this eye-watering death toll but what they can’t measure is the magnitude of the incalculable agony, viciously shattered emotions and interminable miseries of millions of orphans and widows after losing their beloved siblings in the act and counteract of terrorism.
So, freshman Ilhan Omar is technically true when she says “some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties” though incomplete. There were (and still are) many people the world over that have lost their right to live, leaving behind many more who would continue to struggle for the rest of their lives.
Any innocent whether killed in the United States, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan or anywhere else is tremendously condemnable and grossly punishable but any politicking over a dead body deserves the same force of criticism and unequivocal social reaction.
Unfortunately, this is the President of the United States of America Donald Trump whose ‘Islamophobia fever” remains invariably high. It is more disgusting that his tweet “WE WILL NEVER FORGET!” with a video excerpt of Omar’s speech alongside 9/11 visuals seems to incite violence and causes Omar’s life in danger.
Trump’s tweet and retweet “how is this woman walking the halls of Congress. How.” was flashed in the backdrop of the Omar’s repeated assertions about Israeli influence in the U.S. politics. The Congresswoman continues to face backlash from righties after her indictment “to push allegiance for a foreign county (Israel)” and suggesting American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) for “paying American politicians to be pro-Israel”.
For decades, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains a constricted subject in the American politics over the sensitivity of the issue. In United States, any voice that pans Israel for its inimical treatment with Palestinians are lobbed forthwith into the anti-Semitic basket and is vigorously roasted and socially marginalized.
In November, Temple University professor Marc Lamont Hill was fired by CNN within the 24 hours of his gripping pro-Palestinian speech at the United Nations, in which he slated Israel government and its laws that deny Palestinians access to full citizenship rights simply because they are not Jewish.
It is very inopportune on the part of the so-called matured democratic country like the United States to influence its mainstream media in order to serve the interests of a foreign nation. The U.S. has been critical of China’s state controlled media but these kinds of acts tell how much U.S. media is under the government’s influence. Designating Omar’s freedom of express with anti-Semitism trope is yet another example of the U.S. skepticism towards country’s intellectuals and Congressmen.
Although Omar immediately came under “heavy shelling” both from the Republicans and the Democrats following her remarks but as a matter of fact, her staunch stance on AIPAC’s influence in the American politics is supported by some concrete evidence.
AIPAC is the biggest and the most powerful outfit in the Israel Lobby, when it comes to the U.S political pitch. Every year, it spends significant amount on hiring the professional lobbyists who know how to convince Congressmen to vote for the interests of the Israel. There are some other Jewish groups too such as Israeli-American Coalition for Action, J Street, and Zionist Organization of America but none of them can match the clout of AIPAC.
It has such a prodigious sway on the U.S. top politicians that even the leading presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, addressed in its 2016 annual conference. It recently concluded summit featured Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Speaker House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, former ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley and other leading U.S. legislators.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also spoke in the event and spent most of his time in thumping Omar. “Again the Jews are said to have too much influence, too much power, too much money.” He asked “to respond to those who hate the Jews is not to bow down to them. It’s to stand up to them.”
“So I have a message to all the anti-Semites out there...whether they voice their hatred in political parties in…the United States. The Jewish people do not bow down. We stand up, we fight, and we win.” “Take it from this Benjamin, it’s not about the Benjamins.” He was referring to Omar’s tweet of calling AIPAC his baby.
There is no paradigm in the world that a sovereign state has allowed a foreign prime minister to openly decry its legislator and tolerate an organization – which a missions to ensure a safe, strong, and secure Jewish state – to intermingle with its top government officials.
Normally, Congress should have shown an act of solidarity with Omar over an overseas head of state’s bitterness towards Representative of Minnesota but perhaps not in the case of Israel at least. The Congress Woman herself had to clap back at Netanyahu. "We are not even 6 months out from the Pittsburgh massacre. We are not even 2 weeks out from the Christchurch massacre. Yet the topic Netanyahu chose to focus on was…me.”
Instead, Omar was called on by the Chairman of the U.S. House of Foreign Affairs Committee and was pressed to apologize for “a vile, anti-Semitic slur”, which shows that how long AIPAC and the other Jewish lobbies can go on to force House Representatives to follow the Israeli lines and can restrict American lawmakers to end the debate by cloaking any comments in the perspective of anti-Semitism.
It is important to recall that Omar is not the only American who laments over Israeli tyranny on Palestinians and criticizes US presidents’ profound silence on Israeli acrid actions. They are increasing number of Americans who patronizes her policy positions on Israeli influence in the U.S. politics.
The University of Maryland’s Critical Issues Poll conducted in October 2018 found that 38% of the all adult surveyed Americans (including 55% Democrats and 19% Republicans) believed that Israeli government has ‘too much influence’ on American politics and policies.
Study further told that younger Americans (aged 18-34 years) – 44% – were more convinced that Israeli government has ‘too much influence’ on American politics and policies, as compared to 35+ years Americans’ considerations of 36%.
When asked about Trump administration role in mediating Israeli-Palestine conflict, 62% of all Americans (including 67% youths) suggested that it should ‘lean toward neither side’; an increase of 3% from 2017 poll that realized 59% Americans had the same view. Omar also strongly backs two-nation solution for Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Americans were almost tied once quizzed about a “two-state solution” or “one-state solution” – a majority of 36% supported a two-state solution against 35% of the all Americans who opined for one-state solution. In addition, 40% Americans suggested to either impose some economic sanctions through the UN or unilaterally or take more serious action against Israel on its illegal settlements after 1967.
The recent Gallup survey exhumed that Americans’ partiality towards Israel has declined for the first time since 2005 to 59% – whereas sympathies for Palestinians have grown to 21%. The remaining 20% Americans were either unsure or neutral. Sympathies towards Israel were downed largely because of Republicans’ declining pro-Israeli posture that fell from 87% in 2018 to 76% in 2019.
All these corroborations tell that Ilhan Omar is only called “anti-Semitic” for sharing the thoughts and opinions of many Americans about predominating Israeli influence in the U.S. politics and don’t forget, she rode to Congress with the support like-minded Americans that vindicate her candid stance on Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Of course, nobody could ever forget 9/11 terrorist attacks that killed 2,753 people in the United States. Not a soul should either ignore the enormous death toll of 480,000-507,000 in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan, in the aftermath of the U.S.-led war on terror.
The statisticians can count this eye-watering death toll but what they can’t measure is the magnitude of the incalculable agony, viciously shattered emotions and interminable miseries of millions of orphans and widows after losing their beloved siblings in the act and counteract of terrorism.
So, freshman Ilhan Omar is technically true when she says “some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties” though incomplete. There were (and still are) many people the world over that have lost their right to live, leaving behind many more who would continue to struggle for the rest of their lives.
Any innocent whether killed in the United States, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan or anywhere else is tremendously condemnable and grossly punishable but any politicking over a dead body deserves the same force of criticism and unequivocal social reaction.
Unfortunately, this is the President of the United States of America Donald Trump whose ‘Islamophobia fever” remains invariably high. It is more disgusting that his tweet “WE WILL NEVER FORGET!” with a video excerpt of Omar’s speech alongside 9/11 visuals seems to incite violence and causes Omar’s life in danger.
Trump’s tweet and retweet “how is this woman walking the halls of Congress. How.” was flashed in the backdrop of the Omar’s repeated assertions about Israeli influence in the U.S. politics. The Congresswoman continues to face backlash from righties after her indictment “to push allegiance for a foreign county (Israel)” and suggesting American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) for “paying American politicians to be pro-Israel”.
For decades, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains a constricted subject in the American politics over the sensitivity of the issue. In United States, any voice that pans Israel for its inimical treatment with Palestinians are lobbed forthwith into the anti-Semitic basket and is vigorously roasted and socially marginalized.
In November, Temple University professor Marc Lamont Hill was fired by CNN within the 24 hours of his gripping pro-Palestinian speech at the United Nations, in which he slated Israel government and its laws that deny Palestinians access to full citizenship rights simply because they are not Jewish.
It is very inopportune on the part of the so-called matured democratic country like the United States to influence its mainstream media in order to serve the interests of a foreign nation. The U.S. has been critical of China’s state controlled media but these kinds of acts tell how much U.S. media is under the government’s influence. Designating Omar’s freedom of express with anti-Semitism trope is yet another example of the U.S. skepticism towards country’s intellectuals and Congressmen.
Although Omar immediately came under “heavy shelling” both from the Republicans and the Democrats following her remarks but as a matter of fact, her staunch stance on AIPAC’s influence in the American politics is supported by some concrete evidence.
AIPAC is the biggest and the most powerful outfit in the Israel Lobby, when it comes to the U.S political pitch. Every year, it spends significant amount on hiring the professional lobbyists who know how to convince Congressmen to vote for the interests of the Israel. There are some other Jewish groups too such as Israeli-American Coalition for Action, J Street, and Zionist Organization of America but none of them can match the clout of AIPAC.
It has such a prodigious sway on the U.S. top politicians that even the leading presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, addressed in its 2016 annual conference. It recently concluded summit featured Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Speaker House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, former ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley and other leading U.S. legislators.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also spoke in the event and spent most of his time in thumping Omar. “Again the Jews are said to have too much influence, too much power, too much money.” He asked “to respond to those who hate the Jews is not to bow down to them. It’s to stand up to them.”
“So I have a message to all the anti-Semites out there...whether they voice their hatred in political parties in…the United States. The Jewish people do not bow down. We stand up, we fight, and we win.” “Take it from this Benjamin, it’s not about the Benjamins.” He was referring to Omar’s tweet of calling AIPAC his baby.
There is no paradigm in the world that a sovereign state has allowed a foreign prime minister to openly decry its legislator and tolerate an organization – which a missions to ensure a safe, strong, and secure Jewish state – to intermingle with its top government officials.
Normally, Congress should have shown an act of solidarity with Omar over an overseas head of state’s bitterness towards Representative of Minnesota but perhaps not in the case of Israel at least. The Congress Woman herself had to clap back at Netanyahu. "We are not even 6 months out from the Pittsburgh massacre. We are not even 2 weeks out from the Christchurch massacre. Yet the topic Netanyahu chose to focus on was…me.”
Instead, Omar was called on by the Chairman of the U.S. House of Foreign Affairs Committee and was pressed to apologize for “a vile, anti-Semitic slur”, which shows that how long AIPAC and the other Jewish lobbies can go on to force House Representatives to follow the Israeli lines and can restrict American lawmakers to end the debate by cloaking any comments in the perspective of anti-Semitism.
It is important to recall that Omar is not the only American who laments over Israeli tyranny on Palestinians and criticizes US presidents’ profound silence on Israeli acrid actions. They are increasing number of Americans who patronizes her policy positions on Israeli influence in the U.S. politics.
The University of Maryland’s Critical Issues Poll conducted in October 2018 found that 38% of the all adult surveyed Americans (including 55% Democrats and 19% Republicans) believed that Israeli government has ‘too much influence’ on American politics and policies.
Study further told that younger Americans (aged 18-34 years) – 44% – were more convinced that Israeli government has ‘too much influence’ on American politics and policies, as compared to 35+ years Americans’ considerations of 36%.
When asked about Trump administration role in mediating Israeli-Palestine conflict, 62% of all Americans (including 67% youths) suggested that it should ‘lean toward neither side’; an increase of 3% from 2017 poll that realized 59% Americans had the same view. Omar also strongly backs two-nation solution for Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Americans were almost tied once quizzed about a “two-state solution” or “one-state solution” – a majority of 36% supported a two-state solution against 35% of the all Americans who opined for one-state solution. In addition, 40% Americans suggested to either impose some economic sanctions through the UN or unilaterally or take more serious action against Israel on its illegal settlements after 1967.
The recent Gallup survey exhumed that Americans’ partiality towards Israel has declined for the first time since 2005 to 59% – whereas sympathies for Palestinians have grown to 21%. The remaining 20% Americans were either unsure or neutral. Sympathies towards Israel were downed largely because of Republicans’ declining pro-Israeli posture that fell from 87% in 2018 to 76% in 2019.
All these corroborations tell that Ilhan Omar is only called “anti-Semitic” for sharing the thoughts and opinions of many Americans about predominating Israeli influence in the U.S. politics and don’t forget, she rode to Congress with the support like-minded Americans that vindicate her candid stance on Israeli-Palestinian conflict.