ADC condemns campaign against Ilhan Omar for her defense of Palestine
Washington (QNN) – The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) strongly condemned today the Democratic Party leadership’s introduction of a resolution targeting Congresswoman Ilhan Omar for criticizing the pro-Israel lobby’s, AIPAC, role in winning support from American lawmakers for Israel and falsely conflating any criticism of Israel’s policies with anti-Semitism.
“Introducing the resolution is an unjustified reaction to Congresswoman Omar exercising her first amendment rights,” it said.
“The purpose of the resolution has nothing to do with combating anti-Semitism; rather the purpose of the resolution is to silence any criticism of Israel coming from elected officials,” said ADC. “Criticizing Israel is not a crime, and it is not anti-Semitic. If Democratic leadership is serious about combating hate and bigotry, any resolution introduced must also condemn anti-Arab sentiment, xenophobia, Islamophobia, and all forms of hate and bigotry which plague our country.”
The American-Arab organization said the treatment of Congresswoman Omar by Democratic leadership emboldens the hateful and racist threats against her.
“Congresswoman Omar is on the receiving end of constant attacks, including threats of violence, yet the leadership of the Democratic Party has remained silent in the face of these attacks. The extreme hate that Congresswoman Omar is being met with must be condemned across party lines, as it is in direct conflict with the values this country claims to uphold.”
It noted the targeted campaigns against allied Black civil and human rights leaders who advocate for the rights of the Palestinian people. “Just like civil rights advocates Dr. Marc Lamont Hill and Dr. Angela Davis, Congresswoman Omar is being targeted for exercising her constitutional right to free speech that seemingly does not apply to Palestinian human rights advocacy.”
ADC commended Omar’s courage to question foreign support given to special interest groups that work to perpetuate policies that violate international law. “We expect all members of Congress to question the U.S.’s relationship with a country that commits human rights violations using U.S. funding. Congress must question AIPAC’s substantial influence on U.S. policies that shield Israel from culpability. Just like any other special interest group AIPAC is open to criticism, and doing so must not be swift attempts to silence and smear those who question the entity.”
