Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) President Morton Klein released the following statement:
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has “done it again.” In just the three days since ZOA completed our recent lengthy article describing Ilhan Omar’s continuing history of vile, Jew-hating, Israel-hating, pro-BDS, compassionate-to-ISIS-recruits statements, positions and tweets, (See “ZOA Disagrees With ADL’s Greenblatt’s Praise/Acceptance of Phony Apology of Antisemitic Israel-Hater Rep. Omar (D-MN),” Jan 28, 2019), Rep. Omar has yet again displayed her hatred for Israel and Jews and “compassion” for the killers and rapists of ISIS, specifically:
• First, on January 27, 2019, Rep. Omar retweeted a tweet reiterating Rep. Omar’s 2016 letter to a federal judge seeking reduced sentences for convicted Somali Muslim ISIS recruits. Rep. Omar retweeted: “@DMogahed. When @IlhanMN called for restorative justice in these cases [reduced sentences for Somali ISIS recruits convicted in Minnesota], she was demanding fairness, not favors. Muslim-perceived defendants get 4X the prison time for foiled ideologically motivated crimes as white supremicsts [sic] accused of same.”
Note also that this retweet referred to convicted Muslim terrorists as “perceived defendants,” and downplayed Islamist terror as “ideologically motivated crimes.”
• Second, on January 28, 2019, Ilhan Omar tweeted her opposition to targeted sanctions against Venezuela’s despotic, disputed Maduro communist regime’s state-owned oil holdings, saying: “Trump’s new sanctions on Venezuela are nothing more than economic sabotage designed to force regime change by starving the very people we claim to be helping. We must lift these, & other sanctions impacting Venezuela’s poor, & support dialogue between the opposition & government.” Would Omar have opposed sanctions against South Africa intended to change the racist South African government! Sanctions against Venezuela are intended to free the Venezuelan people from a tyrannical communist oppressive regime.
Yet, the next day (January 29, 2019), Rep. Omar retweeted two statements opposing fighting boycotts against Israel by opposing anti-BDS legislation… Omar retweeted the false statement “banning boycotts is un-American . . . It violates the First Amendment.” In fact, anti-BDS legislation merely prohibits anti-Jewish economic activity; such legislation does not impinge on free speech and does not violate the First Amendment – those who may be pressured into not boycotting America’s most reliable ally Israel can still criticize Israel anytime they wish. Rep. Omar also retweeted the snarky tweet: “Advancing yesterday’s S.1 [anti-] BDS related legislation might seem like a victory for Israel, but it’s actually a pretty significant loss. Because only 1 serious presidential candidate voted for it.”
Rep. Omar has thus once again hypocritically falsely complained that targeted sanctions against the tyrannical Maduro regime’s financial interests hurt innocent people – while supporting antisemitic anti-Israel sanctions that really hurt innocent Jews and Israelis and Palestinians and Americans.
Yet, mystifyingly, ADL CEO and National Director Jonathan Greenblatt profusely praised Rep. Omar, tweeting: “Hats off to Rep Omar for her honest apology & commitment to a more just world. Open and respectful conversation will help us achieve this goal.”
ZOA respectfully requests that ADL reconsider and retract its praise of antisemitic Israel-hating, BDS promoting, compassionate-to-ISIS-recruits Rep. Ilhan Omar.