Daily Times

For decades, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains a restrained subject in the American politics. In United States, any voices criticizing the Jewish state for its treatment of Palestinians get branded anti-Semitic, vigorously criticized and socially marginalized.

Freshman Rep Ilhan Omar is one of the loud voices critical of Israeli influence in US politics and Israel’s clamp down on Palestinians. She supports the two-nation solution to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Omar is one of the only two Muslim ladies and the only Somali-American elected to the US Congress.

Her first three months at the Congress have been rocky. Her hard exchanges with Jewish lobbies “to push (Americans’) allegiance for a foreign country” and suggesting American Israel Public Affairs Committee was “paying American politicians to be pro-Israel” invited accusations of anti-Semitism even from her own leadership.

In February, she was pressed by the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee to apologize for “a vile, anti-Semitic slur”. She said that the charge was meant to end the debate. The AIPAC also accused Omar of raising the “ominous spectre of anti-Semitism”.

Omar rejoined the critics with a series of intrepid tweets. “I am told every day that I am anti-American if I am not a pro-Israel. I find that to be problematic. I am not alone. I just happen to be willing to speak on it and open myself to attacks”, she said in one of the tweets.

In his address to AIPAC 2019 Policy Conference on March 26, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spent most of his time thumping Omar. “Again the Jews are said to have too much influence, too much power, too much money.” He asked “to respond to those who hate the Jews is not to bow down to them. It’s to stand up to them.”

“So I have a message to all the anti-Semites out there…whether they voice their hatred in political parties in…the United States. The Jewish people do not bow down. We stand up, we fight, and we win.” “Take it from this Benjamin, it’s not about the Benjamins.” He was referring to Omar’s tweet calling AIPAC his baby.

The congresswoman clapped back at Netanyahu. “We are not even 6 months out from the Pittsburgh massacre. We are not even 2 weeks out from the Christchurch massacre. Yet the topic Netanyahu chose to focus on was…me.”

Peter Beinart, a professor at the City University of New York and contributor to The Atlantic and a CNN political commentator, supported Omar. He said Omar saying AIPAC wields power because its supporters give politicians money was true but incomplete: AIPAC also wields power because of a strong cultural, ideological, and religious affinity for Israel, particularly for the right.

While Omar is under “heavy shelling” from both Republicans and Democrats despite having apologized for some of her tweets, her stance on Israeli influence in American politics is backed by some concrete evidence.

AIPAC is the biggest and the most powerful outfit in the Israel lobby. It incorporates highly professional lobbyists who know how to convince congressmen to vote in Israel’s interest. There are some other groups as well including Israeli-American Coalition for Action, J Street, and Zionist Organization of America but none of them can match the clout of AIPAC.

According to the Open Secrets data, out of a total of $4,547,343 spent on pro-Israel lobbying in 2016, AIPAC accounted for $3,602,343. Total pro-Israel contributions in the election year rose to about $15 million with nearly equal distribution to the Republicans and the Democrats. In 2018, total pro-Israel lobbying and contributions totaled $5.1 million and $14.9 million, respectively.

In AIPAC’s annual conference 2016, top US lawmakers and every remaining presidential candidate except for Bernie Sanders participated. It was at the same summit that Trump vowed to move the American embassy to Jerusalem.

This year’s conference also featured Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, and other leading congressmen. This shows that Omar is only elaborating the facts, when she talks about Jewish influence in US politics.

Omar is not the only American who laments over Israeli tyranny on Palestinians and criticizes US presidents’ profound silence on its bitter actions. An increasing number of Americans back her policy positions on Israeli-Palestine conflict.

“We are not even 6 months out from the Pittsburgh massacre. We are not even 2 weeks out from the Christchurch massacre. Yet the topic Netanyahu chose to focus on was…me.”

In November, a Temple University professor, Marc Lamont Hill, was fired by CNN within 24 hours of his gripping pro-Palestinian speech at the United Nations. He had slated Israeli government and its laws that deny Palestinians access to full citizenship rights simply because they are not Jewish.

While commemorating the International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian people, Hill urged the international community to embrace boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement to hold Israel accountable for its abuse of Palestinian people.

What angered Israeli patrons the most were his remarks that ‘”the international community has the opportunity to take political, grassroots, local, and international action that is what justice requires – and that is a free Palestine from river to the sea”.

His statement “a free Palestine from river to the sea” – which is often associated with Hamas and refers to extending Palestine borders from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea – was called anti-Semitic.

Hill responded on social media “I support Palestinian freedom. I support Palestinian self-determination. I am deeply critical of Israeli policy and practice. I do not support anti-Semitism, killing Jewish people or any of the other things attributed to my speech”.

On March 24, Hill appeared in a conference organized by Palestinian American Community Centre (PACC) and again defended his speech. “I was on the right side of the history and if the final word on me is that ‘he had a career that ended because he spoke up for justice’, it will be just fine.”

“(Now) I can sleep at night”, the academic said.

Omar’s perspective on Israeli influence in American politics is endorsed by the University of Maryland’s Critical Issues Poll conducted in October 2018. The survey concluded that 38 per cent of all adults surveyed Americans (including 55 per cent of Democrats and 19 per cent of Republicans) believed that Israeli government has ‘too much influence’ on American politics and policies.

The study found that younger Americans (aged 18-34 years) – 44 per cent – were more convinced that Israeli government has ‘too much influence’ on American politics and policies, as compared to 35+ years Americans’ considerations of 36 per cent.

When asked about Trump administration’s role in mediating Israeli-Palestine conflict, 62 per cent of all Americans (including 67 per cent youths) suggested that it should ‘lean toward neither side’; an increase of 3 per cent from a 2017 poll that realized 59 per cent of Americans had the view.

Americans were almost tied once quizzed about a “two-state solution” or “one-state solution” – a majority of 36 per cent supported a two-state solution against 35 per cent of the Americans who favoured a one-state solution. In addition, 40 per cent of Americans suggested to either impose some economic sanctions through the UN or unilaterally or take more serious action against Israel for its illegal settlements after 1967.

The recent Gallup survey has found that Americans’ partiality towards Israel has declined for the first time since 2005 to 59 per cent – whereas sympathies for Palestinians have grown to 21 per cent. The remaining 20 per cent Americans were either unsure or neutral. Sympathy towards Israel declined largely because of Republicans’ declining pro-Israeli posture that fell from 87 per cent in 2018 to 76 per cent in 2019. So, Ilhan Omar is being branded “anti-Semitic” for sharing the thoughts and opinions of many Americans.

The writer is a market and business analyst