US House of Representatives adopts resolution condemning anti-Semitism

After several days of discussions and a serious last-minute revision of the document, the March 7 House of Representatives overwhelmingly adopted a bipartisan resolution, which condemns the repeated anti-Semitic statements of the Democratic Democratic Party congressman Ilhan Omar (Somali American), but without mentioning her name.

The document was supported by 407 members of the lower house of Congress (all Democrats and some of the Republicans), 23 were against (all are Republicans), reports Fox News.

The final draft of the resolution was amended and expanded to condemn virtually all forms of bigotry and hatred. Republicans characterized the Democrats' move as a cynical ploy to distract attention from Omar's remarks. Texas Republican Louie Gommert announced during debate that he would vote against the resolution, noting: “Now [the resolution] condemns almost everything. … But hatred of Israel is a special kind of hatred. And we shouldn’t let anyone get away with this.”

“Today’s vote on the resolution was a sham put forward by Democrats to avoid the conviction of a member of their party and the condemnation of vile anti-Semitism. While I fully condemn the discrimination set forth in this resolution, its language sidesteps the issue that was the central topic of discussion in the House today,” said Republican Dick Cheney.

Preparations for voting on a resolution condemning "all forms of hatred" exposed a growing gap between Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (Democratic Party, California) and the extreme leftist contingent of young congressmen, including not only Omar, but Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlayb and others.

During a debate at a House of Representatives meeting on this resolution, Rep. Ted Deutsch (a Democrat from Florida) condemned the leaders of his party for refusing to sharply criticize Omar, and noted that the condemnation of anti-Semitism “should not be so complicated” procedure.

“Why can’t we condemn only anti-Semitism? It feels like we cannot condemn the use of anti-Semitic language by our colleague—any colleague—if we address all forms of hate in the resolution. It feels like we can’t call it anti-Semitism unless everyone agrees that it is anti-Semitism,” Deutsch said.

Pelosi negotiated with her young colleagues during 6 and 7 in March. And on Thursday, the speaker even tried to find an excuse for 37-year-old Omar, saying at a press conference: "I do not believe that she understood the full meaning of her words."

The final text of the resolution reflects the deep internal differences of the democrats on this issue. He speaks of the need to abandon "anti-Semitic stereotypes in the United States and around the world, including the pernicious myth of double loyalty and foreign loyalty, especially in the context of supporting the US-Israeli alliance."

Although the resolution does not mention Omar’s name, this resolution became a veiled response to her remarks at a cafe in Washington last week, in which she suggested that supporters of Israel insisted that American politicians declare “loyalty” to Israel.

The accusation that Jewish politicians have “double loyalty” has been advanced over the centuries in various contexts and has often been aimed at undermining their leadership. Tleyb, who sat next to Omar during her comments at the cafe, made a similar comment in January, writing on Twitter that Republicans in the Senate were more loyal to Israel than to their own country.

The resolution also "condemns anti-Semitic acts and statements as expressions of intolerance, which are contrary to the values ​​that define the people of the United States."

Last month, Omar sparked a bipartisan scandal across the country when she suggested on Twitter that some members of Congress were receiving money from the US-Israel PR Committee for supporting Israel.

According to informed sources, the resolution decided not to mention Omar by name, as this could create a security risk for the Muslim congresswoman.

But the Democrats went to great lengths to expand the focus of the resolution far beyond Omar’s comments. Voting on the resolution was postponed briefly to add a new clause condemning other forms of bigotry and hate speech. In particular, the document condemned manifestations of intolerance towards people of different races, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, LGBTQ representatives and immigrants.

Recall, it was initially assumed that the vote on the resolution will take place on March 6, and that the document will focus only on anti-Semitism and religious fanaticism in response to statements by Omar.

Legislators also demanded to exclude Ilkhan Omar from the committee House of Representatives for Foreign Affairs because of its anti-Semitic rhetoric. The petition, which was put forward by a group of leading Jewish organizations, is addressed to Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Member of the House of Representatives Eliot Engel, who heads the committee. It says that the Congress’s condemning anti-Semitism petition will solve only part of the problem, because Omar will continue to make anti-Semitic statements that are part of her beliefs.

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