The stage is being set for a major confrontation centered in Washington, DC, and Minneapolis, MN; a confrontation that could have major implications for the nation as a whole. The width and breath of this confrontation are reflected in the “assassination” threats being made on a sitting congresswoman; the verbal attacks launched by a sitting president; maneuvers being made by a democratic caucus; and last, but certainly not least, how this same congresswoman factored into a related controversy in the southern city of Birmingham, AL, last month.
The opening lines of an article in the March 4, 2019, edition of the New York Times (“Ilhan Omar’s Criticism Raises the Question: Is AIPAC Too Powerful?”) confirmed a suspicion that this writer had before Rep. Omar took her seat as one of two historic firsts in the US Congress; that a campaign would ensue with the goal of denying this dark complexioned, hijab wearing Muslim woman a second term in Congress.
The opening passage reads:
“When Representative Ilhan Omar landed a coveted seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Stephen Fiske began working the phones to Capitol Hill. Alarmed by messaging that he saw as anti-Semitic and by Ms. Omar’s support for the boycott-Israel movement, Mr. Fiske, a longtime activist with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, began texting and calling his friends in Congress to complain. He is hoping AIPAC activists will punish Ms. Omar, a freshman Democrat from Minnesota, with a primary challenge in 2020.”
Fisk reportedly chairs a political action committee that backs pro-Israel candidates. According to the Times report he said, “Many other people involved in the pro-Israel community, a lot of AIPAC-affiliated members, there’s a lot of concern; there’s a clarion call for activism. It really hit a nerve, and the grass-roots Jewish community in South Florida is not one to treat it as an ostrich, putting their heads in the sand.”
The pressure of these “pro-Israel” lobbies do get results. On March 6, House Democratic leaders are scheduled to “mete out one form of punishment” to Omar (without explicitly mentioning her name) in the form of a “resolution condemning anti-Semitism on the House floor.” The irony is that all of these politically-driven attacks validate the central argument Omar has been making – pro-Israel activists push for allegiance to a foreign country. Something that the founding president of the United States strongly warned against!
Reflect upon these excerpts from George Washington’s ‘Farewell Address to the Union’ in 1796:
“So, likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils…”
“It leads also to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill will, and a disposition to retaliate in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld; and it gives to ambitions, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation) facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country without odium, sometimes even with popularity…”
“Real patriots who may resist the intrigues of the favorite are liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people to surrender their interests…”
These are the words this writer shared with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer at a Town Hall Meeting in Prince Georges County (MD) on February 19th. While Hoyer chose not to respond to the challenge encapsulated in that reminder, many of those in attendance did with a rousing ovation. Washington’s words were followed by a summary conclusion. The freshman from Minnesota was more in line with what President Washington warned against (in both letter and spirit) then the overwhelming majority of her colleagues in both Houses of Congress.
Getting back to the central premise of this commentary. I believe the goal of these unrelenting attacks is to create an atmosphere that will simultaneously remove Ilhan Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee and cripple her reelection possibilities. The lobby will find a viable candidate to run against Omar. Don’t be surprised if the candidate is another black (non-Muslim) female. Backroom talks are probably already underway; community leaders in her district are being approached and deals are being discussed.
A young African American brother on Facebook raised the following question: “Why don't you see these Black Muslim Congressmen like Andre Carson and Keith Ellison coming to the defense of our Black Muslim sister/Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and telling the white Zionists to back up off of our Muslim sister?”
While Keith Ellison is no longer in Congress - Omar won his seat after he decided to step down to (successfully) run for Minnesota attorney general – he could still raise his voice in defense of Omar. Representative Carson could as well. Unfortunately, both appear to be silent; the Congressional Black Caucus is silent; the “progressives” in the House are silent; and truth be told, major Muslim organizations appear to be silent.
Human rights icon, Professor Angela Davis received a tumultuous (estimated 3,000-folk strong) welcome in Birmingham, AL, last month – following a controversy instigated by an assault by Alabama based supporters of Israel, soley because of her support of BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions against Apartheid-Israel). That assault ended up backfiring bigtime! In her public remarks Davis saluted the courage and principled stand taken by Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.
If the lobby ends up being successful in its campaign against Omar it will be a huge blow to so-called “progressive” politics, and a profound insult to the black and Muslim communities in America. If these two latter constituencies remain institutionally silent – i.e. their institutions/organizations, and politically connected VIPs don’t even attempt to put up a good fight - it will constitute a shame, and a setback, that at the end of the day we brought upon ourselves.
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El-Hajj Mauri’ Saalakhan is a DMV-based human rights advocate. He serves as Director of Operations for The Aafia Foundation, Inc.
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