Irked by claims that it’s reluctant to criticize Rep. Ilhan Omar’s continued bigotry, a left-leaning Jewish group recently pushed back.
The Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) threatened legal action against the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) for a late July tweet claiming it does not call out Omar’s anti-Semitic vitriol.
Islamophobia is awful and must be condemned.
Antisemitism is awful and must be condemned.
So why is it that @USJewishDems and @HalieSoifer fail every single time to condemn @Ilhan Omar's antisemitism? https://t.co/gYCDr4eyfG
— RJC (@RJC) July 21, 2021
In its letter, the JDCA reached way back to February 2019 to cite its condemnation of Omar after her tweet that American support for Israel is “all about the Benjamins baby.”
This lone press release from more than two-and-a-half years ago was in response to the Minnesota socialist accusing American Jews of essentially buying support for Israel.
“Enough is enough with the anti-Semitic tropes,” the council said.
Lawyers for JDCA said the sole rebuke of Omar makes the RJC’s statement false, and believe any criticism is “severely injurious” to the JDCA’s reputation.
This debate comes amid Democrats’ ongoing ordeal with a powerful left-wing contingent, especially in the U.S. House, with animus toward the Jewish State and all Jews. While the JDCA condemned Omar in 2019, the letter fails to include any other examples of criticisms of Omar, who has engaged in anti-Semitic rhetoric numerous times since.
In June, the congresswoman compared America and Israel to Hamas and Taliban terrorists and attacked her Jewish Democrat colleagues who “haven’t been partners in justice.” In May, she accused Israel of terrorism.
RJC Executive Director Matt Brooks said the JDCA pointing to only one example of condemning Omar suggests its prioritizes partisan politics over fighting anti-Semitism.
“Rather than cite a litany of times the JDCA spoke out against anti-Semitism from Ilhan Omar and other leading Democrats, they only point to one time over two-and-a-half years ago,” Brooks recently told the Washington Free Beacon. “It’s disappointing that the Jewish Dems would repeatedly choose silence over action. It’s time to put the fight against anti-Semitism ahead of partisan politics.”
The RJC said it would not delete the tweet or “be silenced” by the JDCA. The group’s lawyer said it’s “in the nature of protected political speech and hyperbole.”
“The problem is not so much the bigots like Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar. We know who they are. The real problem is apparent acceptance of their vile statements,” RJC member Eric Levine told Alpha News.
“‘Leaders’ like Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi are too gutless to call out the Jew haters in their caucus. When Schumer stays silent as Israel is at war with an anti-Semitic, genocidal terrorist group like Hamas and pays no political price for his silence, that speaks volumes of where the Democratic Party is. Democratic leadership are simply afraid of offending the woke progressives in their party who view Jews as whites who excel at flaunting their white privilege and see Israel as a colonial apartheid state.”
Other progressive groups in Minnesota also carry water for Omar’s ilk.
Unitecloud, which ostensibly seeks “empathy and community cooperation,” leans hard left on every issue from transgenderism and race to policing. The founder now sits on the St. Cloud Area School Board and seems focused on transgender activism, “diversity” and proper pronouns. A cursory glance at Unitecloud’s Facebook page shows a continuous obsession with castigating white people.
“Unitecloud meetings featured constant hyperbole about race and vitriol at talk radio and conservatives, in general,” a former member told Alpha News. “The group will not utter a critical word about Omar’s divisive comments. They carefully choose their outrage and do nothing to unite.”
A.J. Kaufman
A.J. Kaufman is an Alpha News columnist. His work has appeared in the Baltimore Sun, Florida Sun-Sentinel, Indianapolis Star, Israel National News, Orange County Register, St. Cloud Times, Star-Tribune, and across AIM Media Midwest and the Internet. Kaufman previously worked as a school teacher and military historian.
