The US House of Representatives passed a milquetoast resolution condemning bigotry against minorities by an enormous margin Thursday. The bill began as a Democratic rebuke of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) for her comments about AIPAC, but wide grassroots support in her defense forced the watering down of its language, an activist told Sputnik.
The resolution condemning anti-Semitism, discrimination against Muslims and other forms of bigotry against minorities, introduced by House Speaker and fellow Democrat Nancy Pelosi, passed with an astounding 407 votes for and only 23 against.
While Omar has come under attack for her criticisms of Israel and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) before, the rub that prompted Thursday’s censure is an answer Omar gave during an event at a Washington, DC, coffeehouse called Busboys and Poets last week with several other progressive Congress members, including Palestinian-American Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI).
« So for me, 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, » Omar said. « And I want to ask, why is it OK for me to talk about the influence of the NRA, of fossil fuel industries or Big Pharma, and not talk about a powerful lobby that is influencing policy? »
She noted that the wording of the resolution was changed because of « enormous and incredible grassroots work » in support of Omar. Supporters tweeted the hashtag #istandwithilhan to express their solidarity with Omar and their outrage at the reaction to the congresswoman’s criticisms of Israel and the political lobbying done on that country’s behalf in the US.
This is how we win. Palestinian, Muslim, Jewish, Black solidarity. #istandwithilhanpic.twitter.com/N7tO8tCe4O
« We know that however we change the wording… the intention of it, given the timing and given the story, it is a rebuke of Ilhan Omar, and it falsely claims that what she said was anti-Semitic when it absolutely wasn’t.
