Ilhan Omar in Her Own Words: I Know What Hate Feels Like |
Friday, 08 March 2019 13:46 |
Excerpt: "We hear from Ilhan Omar in her own words, speaking last week at Busboys and Poets in Washington, D.C." Ilhan Omar in Her Own Words: I Know What Hate Feels Like08 March 19
he House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a resolution Thursday condemning anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim discrimination, white supremacy and other forms of hate. The vote was 407 to 23, with nearly two dozen Republicans voting against it. The vote capped a week of intense debate among congressional Democrats that began after some lawmakers accused Democratic Congressmember Ilhan Omar of invoking anti-Semitic tropes while questioning U.S. foreign policy on Israel at an event last week. Omar said, “I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country.” While the media has largely focused on this single sentence in her remarks, few have heard her broader comments. We hear from Ilhan Omar in her own words, speaking last week at Busboys and Poets in Washington, D.C. Transcript This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form. AMY GOODMAN: The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a resolution Thursday condemning anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim discrimination, white supremacy and other forms of hate. The vote was 407 to 23, with nearly two dozen Republicans voting against it. The vote capped a week of intense debate among congressional Democrats that began after some lawmakers accused Democratic Congressmember Ilhan Omar of invoking anti-Semitic tropes while questioning U.S. foreign policy on Israel. At an event last week, Congressmember Omar said, quote, “I want to talk about political influence in this country that says it is OK for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country.” Democrat Eliot Engel, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on which Ilhan Omar sits, as well, then accused Omar of making a, quote, “vile anti-Semitic slur.” The House leadership initially drafted a resolution condemning anti-Semitism in what was seen as a direct rebuke of Omar. But many progressive Democrats [said] Omar, who is one of the first two Muslim congresswomen in U.S. history, was unfairly being singled out. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders wrote, “We must not equate anti-Semitism with legitimate criticism of the right-wing, Netanyahu government in Israel.” New York Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, “Incidents like these do beg the question: where are the resolutions against homophobic statements? For anti-blackness? For xenophobia? For a member saying he’ll 'send Obama home to Kenya?'” Key members of the Congressional Black Caucus also questioned the treatment of Omar. The split within the Democratic Party forced the leadership to withdraw its initial anti-Semitism resolution and present a much broader one. Congressmember Ilhan Omar voted for and praised the new resolution. She issued a joint statement with fellow Muslim lawmakers Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and André Carson of Indiana, saying, quote, “We are tremendously proud to be part of a body that has put forth a condemnation of all forms of bigotry including anti-Semitism, racism, and white supremacy. … Our nation is having a difficult conversation and we believe this is great progress,” they said. They went on to write, “Today is historic on many fronts. It’s the first time we have voted on a resolution condemning Anti-Muslim bigotry.” Later in the show, we’ll go to Tel Aviv and Washington for response to the controversy, but first let’s turn to Ilhan Omar in her own words, speaking last week at Busboys and Poets restaurant in Washington, D.C. While the media has largely focused on a single sentence in her remarks, few have heard her broader comments. This is a part of what she said. REP. ILHAN OMAR: It’s almost as if every single time we say something, regardless of what it is we say, that is supposed to be about foreign policy, our engagement, our advocacy about ending oppression or the freeing of every human life and wanting dignity, we get to be labeled in something, and that ends the discussion, because we end up defending that, and nobody ever gets to have the broader debate of what is happening with Palestine. AMY GOODMAN: Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, speaking last week at Busboys and Poets in Washington, D.C. She was speaking just after Rashida Tlaib, the other Muslim congresswoman. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib are the first two Muslim congresswomen in U.S. history. When we come back, we’ll host a discussion on the debate sparked by Omar’s comments. We’ll go to Tel Aviv, to Washington and New York. Stay with us. |