In Het Land of The Free Criticizing 'The Jewish State' is Forbidden

Public Rebuke of Ilhan Omar for Substantive Critique of Israeli Policy a 'Disgrace,' Say Progressives

"Instead of throwing her under the bus, Democratic leadership should have Rep. Omar's back in pushing back against increasingly dangerous attacks and threats from the far right." 

by

Eoin Higgins, staff writer

 48 Comments

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) waves to supporters at an election night results party on November 6, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

A growing chorus of criticism  from progressives across the country is targeting House Democrats who plan to publicly rebuke one of their own on Wednesday for talking about the influence of a powerful D.C. lobbying group.

On Wednesday, House leadership will introduce a resolution (pdf) to the floor calling out anti-Semitism in American life and politics. Though the resolution does not name Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), the Congresswoman's recent comments questioning the ongoing influence and power of the American Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC) on U.S. politics were the impetus for the resolution, POLITICO reported on Monday. 

Staffers for Pelosi and top Democrats, including House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), began drafting the resolution over the weekend as the confrontation between Omar and her colleagues unfolded on Twitter.

Progressive advocacy group CREDO expressed dissatisfaction with House leadership in a statement.

"Speaker Pelosi and Democratic leaders in the House need to stop attacking Rep. Ilhan Omar," wrote CREDO Action co-director Heidi Hess. "Rep. Omar’s willingness to voice badly needed and substantive critiques about Israeli government policies and disturbing trends in American foreign policy has earned her public condemnation, slander, and even threats of physical violence."

"Instead of throwing her under the bus," Hess added, "Democratic leadership should have Rep. Omar's back in pushing back against increasingly dangerous attacks and threats from the far right."

Members of the House GOP, meanwhile, are pushing to strip Omar of her committee assignments and may introduce a resolution to that effect on Wednesday. Prominent House Republicans made the case for the move on Twitter. 

Further Reading: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/05/public-rebuke-ilhan-omar-substantive-critique-israeli-policy-disgrace-say?cd-origin=rss&utm_term=Public%20Rebuke%20of%20Ilhan%20Omar%20for%20Substantive%20Critique%20of%20Israeli%20Policy%20a%20%27Disgrace%2C%27%20Say%20Progressives&utm_campaign=%27If%20We%20Stop%2C%20the%20World%20Stops%21%27%20%7C%20Your%20Week%20in%20Review&utm_content=email&utm_source=Weekly%20Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&cm_mmc=Act-On%20Software-_-email-_-%27If%20We%20Stop%2C%20the%20World%20Stops%21%27%20%7C%20Your%20Week%20in%20Review-_-Public%20Rebuke%20of%20Ilhan%20Omar%20for%20Substantive%20Critique%20of%20Israeli%20Policy%20a%20%27Disgrace%2C%27%20Say%20Progressives

Willy van Damme

Lydia Chagoll en Felix Nussbaum in Dendermonde by Willy Van Damme Donderdag 14 maart om 19 uur organiseert de Dendermondse Kunstraad in samenwerking met de bibliotheek en Forum Cultuur, de lokale versie van de Cultuurraad, in de plaatselijke bibliotheek een gespreksavond met schrijfster, choreografe en filmmaakster Lydia Chagoll over de Duitse surrealistische kunstschilder Felix Nussbaum. Daarbij is er ook een vertoning van de vorig jaar door Lydia Chagoll over de man gemaakte film ‘Felix Nussbaum, a painter’.  Felix Nussbaum werd in 1904 in de Duitse stad Osnabrück geboren en ontpopte zich tijdens het interbellum tot een veelbelovend kunstschilder. Zijn carrière werd echter gebroken door de opkomst van Hitler en het nazisme met zijn jodenhaat. En toen hij op cursus was in Italië nam Hitler in Duitsland de macht over. Voldoende reden voor een man als Felix Nussbaum, een jood, om nooit meer naar Duitsland terug te keren.  Triomf des Doods, het laatste werk van Felix Nussbaum. Kort nadien verdween hij in het vernietigingskamp van Auschwitz. De nazistische vernielingsdrang en de gruwel van elke oorlog in beeld. Nadien trok hij naar België en Oostende waar hij kennis maakte met de toen in kunstmiddens populaire James Ensor. De invloed, waaronder het gebruik van carnavalsmaskers, is bij Nussbaum op sommige schilderijen goed te merken. Maar als Duitsland in mei 1940 ook België bezet trok hij ondergedoken naar Brussel.  Toen de geallieerde troepen van de VS en het Verenigd Koninkrijk bijna aan de Belgische grens waren werd hij op 2 augustus 1944 dankzij verraad door de Duitsers opgepakt en via de Mechelse Dossinkazerne richting Auschwitz gevoerd waar hij een week later op 9 augustus werd vermoord. Zoals trouwens de rest van zijn familie. Vlak voor zijn dood maakte hij het werk ‘Triomf des Doods’ dat als helderziend kan gezien worden. Het was alsof hij zijn einde voelde naderen. De titel is ongetwijfeld een antwoord op de propagandafilm ‘Triumph des Willens’ van cineaste Leni Riefenstahl over een partijcongres van de NSDAP in Nürnberg. Het werk toont in al zijn gruwel de vernietigingskracht van de oorlog en dus ook van het nazisme.  Het Felix Nussbaum Haus in Osnabrück, een realisatie van architect Daniel Libeskind zijn eerste uit 1998 daterende omvangrijk werk. Het adres van het museum is Lotte Strasse 2 in Osnabrück. De man maakte ook het ontwerp voor het nieuwe World Trade Center in New York.  Ter ere van de schilder heeft de stad Osnabrück aan de man een museum gewijd. Het erg opvallende gebouw is gemaakt naar een ontwerp van de wereldberoemde architect Daniel Libeskind. Deze ontwierp wereldwijd al een serie gebouwen en was ook actief als landschapsarchitect in o.m. Almere en Groningen. Zo tekende hij bijvoorbeeld het Joods Museum in Berlijn en het Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre in Hong Kong. Felix Nussbaum zou, zeker in België, een nobele onbekende gebleven zijn had auteur en journalist Mark Schaevers in 2015 niet het boek ‘De orgelman’ over Nussbaum geschreven. Een bij de Bezig Bij uitgegeven boek die dat jaar de prestigieuze Gouden Uil boekenprijs kreeg. Vorig jaar maakte Lydia Chagoll over de man dan een langspeeldocumentaire. Met hulp van filmmonteur Gertjan Van Damme.   Lydia Chagoll is wat men kan noemen een Grote Dame van het Belgische cultuurleven en altijd al een bezige bij geweest. Zo had ze op zeker ogenblik als choreografe een eigen balletschool, maakte ze een serie films en schreef ze ook een aantal boeken. En ook nu ze stilaan de kaap van de 88 jaar nadert blijft die dynamiek aanwezig. Ze was gehuwd met Frans Buyens uit Temse en een van de pioniers van de Belgische film. In 2016 op 24 oktober vertoonde televisiezender Canvas van de VRT over het leven van deze toch merkwaardige dame een documentaire.  Alhoewel ze nooit in de Duitse concentratiekampen heeft gezeten en tijdens de tweede wereldoorlog in Indonesië in een Jappenkamp zat – ze is van origine Nederlandse uit Voorburg maar woonde in België toen de oorlog uitbrak en raakte via een vlucht langs Frankrijk, Spanje, Portugal en Mozambique in Batavia (Jakarta) - is oorlog, geweld met de holocaust en vooral het lijden van kinderen de rode draad bij haar schrijven.  En daarbij is de miserie die Palestijnse kinderen meemaken even belangrijk als al die anderen. Zij noemt zichzelf een 100% humanist en een rebel. Na de filmvertoning speelt de Dendermondse Vera Steenput, Belgisch kampioen orgeldraaien, tijdens de receptie het lied The Lambeth Walk waarvan de partituur onderaan links op ‘Triomf des Doods’ te lezen is. Nu donderdag 14 maart te 19 uur, Bibliotheek, Kerkstraat 111, Dendermonde. Met nadien een receptie aangeboden door de bib. Toegang is gratis. Willy Van Damme

Paul Craig Roberts 329

The US Government Has Degenerated Into Tyranny

US Re-Imprisons Manning To Coerce Her To Bear False Witness Against Julian Assange

The US Government Has Degenerated Into Tyranny

“Really this isn’t about Chelsea Manning at all,” journalist Ben Swann told RT today. “It’s really about for the government to try and to create a concept, a narrative, in which they demonstrate that Assange and WikiLeaks assisted Manning in retrieving and obtaining classified documents, which WikiLeaks then published. And the reason that’s significant is because, under the Espionage Act, they want to charge Assange with having committed espionage against the United States.”

The US government has spent 9 years fabricating a false case against Julian Assange for the sole reason of revenge.  Such a government is to be despised and deplored.  The total absence of any moral character in the US government shames every American.

https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/03/09/us-re-imprisons-manning-to-force-her-to-testify-against-wikileaks/ 

Israel Lobby Proofs It's Power

Israel Lobby Rebuts Omar’s Claims About Its Immense Influence By Exerting Its Immense Influence

In response to criticisms made by Congresswoman Ilhan Omar that US political leaders have too much allegiance to Israel and its lobbying groups, House Democrats have put forward an entire House resolution in accordance with demands made by AIPAC and the Anti-Defamation League.

“The backlash [over Omar’s comments] continued on Monday, as the Anti-Defamation League wrote a letter to Pelosi calling for a House resolution to specifically reject what the organization calls Omar’s ‘latest slur,'” Politico reports. “‘We urge you and your colleagues to send the unambiguous message that the United States Congress is no place for hate,’ the group’s CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, wrote in a letter.”

“The charge of dual loyalty not only raises the ominous specter of classic anti-Semitism, but it is also deeply insulting to the millions upon millions of patriotic Americans, Jewish and non-Jewish, who stand by our democratic ally, Israel,” tweeted the Israel lobbying group AIPAC on Friday in response to Omar’s comments.

“I hope @AIPAC isn’t too angry that it took Democratic House leaders almost 48 whole hours to do what they’re told to condemn their own member and will instead be understanding that it was a weekend and that’s what caused the delay,” snarked journalist Glenn Greenwald in response to the news of the House resolution.

Glenn Greenwald‏Geverifieerd account @ggreenwald

I hope @AIPAC isn't too angry that it took Democratic House leaders almost 48 whole hours to do what they're told to condem their own member and will instead be understanding that it was a weekend and that's what caused the delay. They're very sorry:

 

12:27 - 4 mrt. 2019

US politicians of all faiths and in both parties have indeed been falling all over themselves in a mad scramble to tell the freshman congresswoman that she is wrong and evil for suggesting that there is undue loyalty to Israel among US politicians.

“It is disturbing that Rep. Omar continues to perpetuate hurtful anti-Semitic stereotypes that misrepresent our Jewish community,” tweeted California Congressman Juan Vargas, who is not Jewish. “Additionally, questioning support for the U.S.-Israel relationship is unacceptable,” Vargas continued, inadvertently re-stating Omar’s original argument.

“But serious question: How is it anti-Semitic to question Christian Republican allegiance to Israel?” asked journalist Rania Khalek in response to the controversy. “Because it’s people like Rep. Kevin McCarthy and Sen. Marco Rubio who Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib were initially called anti-Semitic for challenging on loyalty to Israel.”

It is indeed interesting that the label “antisemitism” is being pinned on an argument directed at mostly non-Jewish lawmakers and not at Jews at all. It is also interesting that the House resolution’s current text twists that reality on its head by falsely implying that the comments were directed at Jewish politicians. The most Omar-specific parts of the resolution read as follows:

Whereas the definition further includes ‘‘accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations’’;

Whereas the myth of dual loyalty, including allegations that Jews should be suspected of being disloyal neighbors or citizens, has been used to marginalize and persecute the Jewish people for centuries for being a stateless minority;

Whereas accusing Jews of dual loyalty because they support Israel, whether out of a religious connection, a commitment to Jewish self-determination after millennia of persecution, or an appreciation for shared values and interests, suggests that Jews cannot be patriotic Americans and trusted neighbors, when Jews have served our Nation since its founding, whether in public life or military service;

Whereas accusations of dual loyalty generally have an insidious, bigoted history, including (1) the discriminatory internment of Americans of Japanese descent during World War II on the basis of race; (2) the Dreyfuss affair; when Alfred Dreyfuss, a Jewish French artillery captain was falsely convicted of passing secrets to Germany based on his Jewish background; (3) when the loyalty of President John F. Kennedy was questioned because of his Catholic faith; and (4) the post-9/11 conditions faced by Muslim-Americans in the United States, including unfounded, vicious attacks on and threats to Muslim-American Members of Congress;

Eliza Collins‏Geverifieerd account @elizacollins1

NEW TEXT of resolution condemning anti-semitism in response to ⁦@IlhanMN⁩’s recent comments

 

14:52 - 4 mrt. 2019 

Omar’s comments have nothing to do with Jews, Judaism or Jewishness, but with the geopolitical entanglements between the US and a nation which currently serves as an outpost for US military agendas in the Middle East. It’s a basic, unassailable fact that the agenda to maintain this relationship holds immense sway in America’s capitol, which is why the only arguments you see against it are fallacious, dishonest, irrelevant, or even prove it to be true.

“It is so disingenuous of some of these members of Congress who are lining up to condemn these questioning voices as if they have no campaign finance interest in the outcome,” former congressman Brian Baird told the New York Times today. “If one dares to criticize Israel or dares to criticize AIPAC, one gets branded anti-Semitic, and that’s a danger to a democratic republic.”

Ilhan Omar has sparked one of the most interesting conversations happening in America today, and the smear campaign against her has nothing to do with fighting antisemitism, but with silencing that conversation. The social engineers are not interested in fighting religious bigotry, they are interested in shutting her up.

In an increasingly neoliberalism-weary world, the old smear tactics of labeling a dissident voice a “communist” or a “socialist” don’t pack the kind of punching power they used to, so new ones are needed. The propagandists have been field testing them for a while now, and whenever a successful prototype rolls off the conveyor belt you quickly see it shipped around the world. Smears of Kremlin servitude found purchase in the US, and it wasn’t long before we saw the BBC posing an image of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn against the backdrop of the Kremlin wearing what was made to resemble a Soviet-era hat. Antisemitism smears found purchase against Corbyn in the UK, and it wasn’t long before we saw those same smear tactics used across the pond against Ilhan Omar. If an imperial smear field tests well in our new political climate, you can be certain you’ll see it used elsewhere within the empire before long.

Chad Vigorous‏ @PrettyBadLefty

It's cool and a sign of a healthy media culture that I apparently put more effort into fact checking tweets about what having a fetish for mimes is called than highly paid pundits do before smearing politicians

17:50 - 4 mrt. 2019

This bogus concern trolling about antisemitism has always been about smearing, and the smearing has always been about narrative control. If they can manipulate the public into distrusting someone who voices a dissenting narrative, they can keep that dissenting narrative from entering the bloodstream of mainstream consciousness. The need to keep a nuclear-armed branch of the US-centralized empire in the heart of the most crucial strategic location on earth is too important for our rulers to allow its fate to be left in the hands of the democratic process, so they control the narrative about it with extreme aggression and smear anyone who questions it. That’s all this has ever been.

_________________________

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https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/03/05/israel-lobby-refutes-omars-claims-about-its-immense-influence-by-exerting-its-immense-influence/