Ilhan Omar faces backlash from anti-Israel tweets

Photo courtesy of Kirstie Boyd, Wikipedia

Freshman Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has caught herself in some hot water the past few weeks, angering some who felt she showed signs of anti-Semitic views in tweets that she sent out.

She has been making comments about President Trump and other politicians’ views when it comes to supporting Israel, as well as the United States’ stance on the country.

Omar has accused various senators and Trump of taking bribes in exchange for supporting Israel and being friendly with them. In a recent CNN interview, she was asked about her tweets and completely deflected the question, indirectly accusing politicians of bribery and conspiracies with Israel.

CNN anchors immediately called her out for her comments, saying that she had no evidence or facts and that this was all an opinion of hers. She was unable to back up what she was implying, and her actions were discredited.   

On Feb. 10, Omar quote-tweeted Glenn Greenwald’s tweet that mentioned, “It’s stunning how much time US political leaders spend defending a foreign nation,” and her comment back was, “It’s all about the Benjamins baby.”

Omar’s comment was referring to the notion that U.S. politicians’ support of Israel is driven by money and bribes. This was a reach and an accusation without proper evidence.

Many politicians and public figures have a habit of turning to social media to voice their opinions, especially our president. We need to be careful when we voice opinions, especially those in the public eye.

Politicians of both parties were upset with Omar’s comments and made it clear that she should be deleting her posts and issuing an apology immediately. Omar said that her intentions were never to hurt any Jewish Americans in her posts and did not want her posts to come off as anti-Semitic.

Omar is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and is receiving a ton a backlash from politicians regarding whether she should be removed from the committee.

Vice President Mike Pence said in a recent interview with NBC that Omar should be removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee because of her comments, which he said are insensitive to all Jewish people.

The vice president was questioned on his comments considering his stance on the Muslim ban. When it comes to whether or not Omar should be removed from the Committee, that should be decided by House Speaker Pelosi.

Omar should not necessarily be punished for her comments on social media because she is allowed to voice her opinion, and we should be proud to be able to voice our opinions without fear of consequence even if we don’t agree with what is being said.

Americans will hold her accountable at the ballot box for her views.

tanzalon@ramapo.edu