Ilhan Omar justifies her anti-Semitism by pointing to the fact that along with criticizing Israel, she calls the Saudis “bloodsuckers” and criticizes them as fellow Muslims, yet no one calls her “Islamophobic.” And yes, nothing is hateful about telling the truth. There is much to be legitimately criticized regarding the Saudis, although they are not what Omar is criticizing them for. They are global funders of the spread of the jihad ideology, and human rights abuses in that country are rampant. Women are not equal to men and neither are infidels equal to Muslim believers. Meanwhile, Israel has done nothing wrong in opposing the Palestinian goal to obliterate it “from the River to the Sea,” a goal that dates from the day of Israel’s birth in 1948.
Here is a critical point to ponder, coming from Omar’s fellow Somali, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal entitled “Can Ilhan Omar Overcome Her Prejudice?” Ayaan Hirsi Ali states:
“It’s all about the Benjamins baby,” Ms. Omar tweeted in February, implying that American politicians support Israel only because of Jewish financial contributions. The irony is that the resources available to propagate Islamist ideologies, with their attendant anti-Semitism, vastly exceed what pro-Israel groups spend in the U.S.
Hirsi Ali also notes:
Thousands of schools in Pakistan, funded with Saudi money, “teach a version of Islam that leads [to] anti-Western militancy,” according to Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy—and, one might add, to an anti-Semitic militancy.
In recent years the Saudi leadership has tried to turn away from supporting this type of religious radicalism. But increasingly Qatar seems to be taking over the Saudi role. In the U.S. alone, the Qatar Foundation has given $30.6 million over the past eight years to public schools, ostensibly for teaching Arabic and promoting cultural exchange.
Ilhan Omar in comparing Israel and Saudi Arabia engages in a false equivalence.
“Ilhan Omar Rages: Israel’s ‘Destructive Polices’ Are ‘Rubber Stamped’ by Trump Administration,” by Deborah Danan, Breitbart, May 27, 2020:
TEL AVIV — Rep. Ilhan Omar compared Israel with Saudi Arabia in an interview Sunday, saying both countries used money to influence the Trump administration and that as a result Israel’s “destructive policies” were being “rubber stamped” by the U.S.
Pointing to close ties the U.S. has with both the Jewish state and the Gulf state, Omar told the Sunday Times, “We know the amount of money and influence and connection that the Saudis have with the administration is really the reason that everything destructive they do is nullified. And that really is no different to what’s happening with Israel.”
“There’s an alarming connection to the really destructive policies Israel is proposing and how much of it is being rubber stamped by this administration,” she added. “And how much of it is being urged by Americans who have connection and influence with this administration.”
It was perhaps lost on Omar that Israel and the U.S. share the same democratic values.
The story noted Omar’s “new approach is to pivot to Saudi Arabia so she isn’t singling out the Jews.”
Omar said she had “moved past” last year’s scandal in which she made antisemitic references to pro-Israel lawmakers. But she continued with the rationalization that she condemns the Saudis, who are Muslim, and is not accused of Islamophobia.
“My expression of those things was hurtful to people, that has really broken my heart,” she said. “I talk about Saudi blood money and them being bloodsuckers and no one says ‘This is Islamophobic,’…..