Thursday, May 23, 2019

Not overplaying the Ilhan Omar tirades

Sar Shalom

Note that I use the term "overplay" and not "overreact." Omar deserves all the vitriol she has received and more unity in issuing it, however it does not look like we can pull that off. Nonetheless, it is possible that when the 117th Congress takes the oath of office, Omar will not be among them. The people who will decide whether or not she is, and who will replace her if she is not, are the voters of Minnesota's 5th District. Our efforts must reflect that fact.

Fortunately, there are indications that some of Omar's constituents are open to turning on her. Two items of note stick out. First, Mohamed Ahmed related how his daughter chose to write a report about Omar as someone she admires, then,
... as Ms. Omar’s comments about American Jews and Israel drew bipartisan rebukes in recent weeks, culminating Thursday with a House vote condemning anti-Semitism [sic] and other forms of hate, Mr. Ahmed had a conversation with his 8-year-old daughter about Ms. Omar.
Then, describing another constituent's thoughts about the Jews,
“When religion is under attack, they stand by us, because they’ve been there,” said Zahra Ali, a Somali-American resident of Minneapolis who once saw Ms. Omar’s election as a beacon of hope but who did not plan to vote for her again.
What the second examples shows is that demonstrating what we can do for them pays dividends. Conversely, albeit speculatively, calling them deplorables for having voted for Omar in the first place is unlikely to convince many to vote for anyone more agreeable to us. We need to work with Omar's constituency to find a mutually agreeable alternative who will both show that Omar's identity as a Muslim and as an African immigrant are not grounds for objection and will demonstrate tolerance of Jewish rights both here and in their indigenous homeland. Ultimately, that is how Omar can be removed entirely from Congress.

This is not to say that there is anything wrong with demonstrations against Omar across the country. However, we should have operatives in her district keeping tabs on her constituents' opinions in order to provide us with an early warning system regarding their openness to other alternatives.

10 comments:

  1. The following comment is off-topic
    [sorry about that] but important:
    ===================================

    Why Richard Block (a Jewish Liberal-Democrat)
    UNSUBSCRIBED from the New York Times:


    “I am a lifelong Democrat, a political liberal,
    a Reform rabbi, and for four decades, until
    last week, a New York Times subscriber.

    What drove me away was the paper’s incessant
    denigration of Israel, a torrent of articles,
    photographs, and op-ed columns that consistently
    present the Jewish State in the worst possible light.”

    SOURCE:
    Why I’m Unsubscribing From the New York Times
    by Richard A. Block, 2014 August 28
    Tablet Magazine P.O. Box 20079 New York, NY 10001
    www.tabletmag.com/scroll/183412/why-im-unsubscribing-to-the-new-york-times

    ReplyDelete
  2. All very good points, Sar. The goal is to make sure she does not get re-elected since she obviously won't change her antisemitic nature.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jonathan S. Tobin [editor in chief of JNS] said:

    “She [Ilhan Omar] has made a name for herself,
    not by talking about the concerns of Minnesotans,
    but by the outrageous manner in which she has
    trafficked in anti-Semitic tropes as she
    pursues her advocacy against Israel.

    Along with Tlaib, she is one of the only two
    open supporters of the anti-Semitic BDS movement
    that promotes boycotts against the State of Israel.

    She has claimed that Jews are buying
    the support of Congress for Israel and
    questioned the loyalty of her congressional
    colleagues who are pro-Israel.

    Despite this, the Democrats elevated
    [Ilhan] Omar to a seat on the House
    Foreign Relations Committee and refused to
    name her in a resolution denouncing anti-Semitism.”

    SOURCE:
    Is it Ilhan Omar’s Democratic Party now?
    Jonathan S. Tobin, 2019 May 22
    www.jns.org/opinion/is-it-ilhan-omars-democratic-party-now/

    ===================================
    Jonathan S. Tobin [editor in chief of JNS] said:

    “If even a popular, pro-Israel Jewish Democrat
    like Adler was afraid to stand up to Ilhan Omar
    in his own city, then it’s not clear
    under what circumstance any member of that
    party would think they could afford to do so.

    That means that the battle to quarantine
    an anti-Semite like Omar to the margins
    of American politics has been lost.

    Not only are she and Tlaib among
    the young rock stars of their party,
    they have far greater influence than anyone
    would have thought only a few months ago.”

    SOURCE:
    Is it Ilhan Omar’s Democratic Party now?
    Jonathan S. Tobin, 2019 May 22
    www.jns.org/opinion/is-it-ilhan-omars-democratic-party-now/

    ===================================

    PS: If you are truly pro-Israel,
    then you should visit www.jns.org every day.

    www.jns.org will provide you with pro-Israel
    facts that are not mentioned by the far-Left
    mainstream-news-media and fanatically
    Israel-bashing the New York Times.

    ReplyDelete
  4. What has Nancy Pelosi ever done?
    She is proud that her grandson wishes he had darker skin. In her circles this is counted as an accomplishment.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I don't know about numbers, but I do know that there is a significant Somali immigrant population. The Israellycool post, and NY Times article it links to, provide a little more detail.

    As to the use of "operative," I'm under the impression that that is standard terminology for those who conduct a political campaign. Any contrary information?

    Convincing the the left-liberal Jews that bigotry against Jews who refuse to be dhimmis is no more acceptable that any other bigotry is an important goal. However, I don't want to get bogged down on that one between now and next year's primary in Minnesota. Build the needed coalition to oust Omar, then, once someone else is nominated in her place, work on convincing the Jews that fighting for Jewish rights is not illegitimate.

    ReplyDelete
  6. She helps expose the Jew hatred coming from her side. It was already there. Now plain to see for all. No need to interfere. Let her constituents find out the hard way that she hurts more than helps her community.

    Speaking of her side, and the hatred for Israel:

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/05/coming-soon-samantha-powers-unmasking-campaign-linked-to-general-flynn-and-obamas-deep-hatred-of-israe/

    And to think some people lectured how Obama was so great for Israel. Wrong again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. At this point it's no longer a surprise. It's more about how much of the mendacity will come out. There seems to be a lot. Would have remained hidden, but sometimes things work in strange ways. Still may not be enough in the end. The road to 1984 is widening.

      Delete
  7. "Any contrary information?" Yes.
    "Operative" is a common term for a secret agent. Even political operatives are known to be those who work under the radar so to speak. But you didn't even add the modifier "political."
    So, yes, "operative" sounds sneaky rather than above board and in the open.
    You might notice that I also suggested the term "advocate." I chose it over "activist." That was a bit more of a personal choice.

    ReplyDelete
  8. “Since ancient times the Muslims of North Africa had imported black Africans from across the Sahara for the elite citizens of Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, Tripoli and Egypt.”

    SOURCE: Africa 1500-1900
    (page 77) by Constance Jones, year 1993,
    Facts on File, New York City, ISBN 0-8160-2774-9

    ===================================
    Islamic views on slavery from Wiki Pedia:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_views_on_slavery

    ===================================
    Brigitte Gabriel said:

    “Mohammed himself owned dozens of slaves.
    His followers continue to do so today.”

    SOURCE: They Must Be Stopped:
    Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and
    How We Can Do It
    (chapter 9, page 183)
    by Brigitte Gabriel, year 2008, year 2010,
    St. Martin’s Press, 288 pages,
    ISBN 0312571283, ISBN 9780312571283.

    PS: Slavery was legal in Saudi Arabia
    until the 1960s. Slavery is alive and well
    in Muslim areas like: Sudan, Mali, Niger,
    Ghana, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast.

    ===================================
    Brigitte Gabriel said:

    “Muslims were enslaving black Africans
    1,300 years before slave ships brought
    black Africans to the New World.”

    “Most interesting, though, is that even though black slavery by Muslims began long ago, also no descendants of those slaves are alive today in the Muslim world.

    Why is there no black culture in the Middle East?”

    “Most slaves were either killed or died from being worked to death.”

    “Islamic racism is so entrenched in Muslim society that the Arabic word for black is abed (slave) or abeeds (slaves). There is no other respectable word in the Arabic language that describes a black person as equal or even human. Blacks are also referred to [in Arabic] as filth.”

    SOURCE: They Must Be Stopped:
    Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and
    How We Can Do It
    (chapter 9, page 183)
    by Brigitte Gabriel, year 2008, year 2010,
    St. Martin’s Press, 288 pages,
    ISBN 0312571283, ISBN 9780312571283

    ===================================
    QUICK HISTORY QUIZ:

    Which of the following famous religious
    leaders or philosophers owned slaves?

    (A) Moses (Judaism)
    (B) Siddhartha (founder of Buddhism)
    (C) Confucius (ancient Chinese philosopher)
    (D) the founder of Christianity
    (E) Mohammed (founder of Islam)
    (F) Martin Luther (founder of Protestantism)
    (G) Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov (founded Hassidic Judaism)
    (H) Joseph Smith Jr. of Vermont (founder of Mormonism)
    (I) Mary Baker Eddy (founder of Christian Science)

    The correct answer is:

    (E) Mohammed (founder of Islam)
    owned dozens of slaves!

    ===================================

    PS: I hope that everybody copys
    these quotes into their computers,
    for future reference. Also, send these
    quotes to Jewish and regular newspapers.

    ReplyDelete