Rep. Ilhan Omar told a Jewish congresswoman Sunday that their constituents didn’t elect either woman to have allegiance to a foreign country.
Rep. Nita Lowey, New York Democrat, had posted on Twitter on Saturday that anti-Muslim stereotyping of Ms. Omar was offensive and should be roundly condemned, and that, for the same reason, Ms. Omar’s repeated use of anti-Semitic tropes should be too.
“I am saddened that Rep. Omar continues to mischaracterize support for Israel. I urge her to retract this statement and engage in further dialogue with the Jewish community on why these comments are so hurtful,” wrote Ms. Lowey.
“The people of the 5th [Congressional District of Minnesota] elected me to serve their interest. I am sure we agree on that!,” she told Ms. Lowey as if Ms. Lowey’s support for Israel stance was not in the interests of the 17th Congressional District of New York.
Ms. Omar went on to say that “I have not mischaracterized our relationship with Israel, I have questioned it.”
She recently deleted widely-reported tweets employing anti-Semitic tropes about how U.S. support for Israel is the product of Jewish money and underhanded control of lawmakers.
A frustrated New York Times columnist Bret Stephens called her language “classic anti-Semitism.”
“Someone please write ’Antisemitism for Dummies.’ Nobody expects @IlhanMN to pledge ’allegiance’ to Israel. But her attacks on pro-Israel Americans of doing so is a charge of dual loyalty,” he wrote.
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