Ilhan Omar: Listen to Gideon Levy Not Nancy Pelosi

Richard Mellor

Afscme Local 444, retired

Rep. Ilhan Omar has been lambasted after suggesting that some of her political adversaries, supporters of Israel, are influenced by lobbyists, in this case, lobbyists for the state of Israel through the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).  She tweeted that their support for Israel is “all about the Benjamins”. Benjamin Franklin’s image is on the US $100 bill.

Nancy Pelosi and other House Democratic leaders issued a public statement calling for Rep Omar to apologize for her “hurtful comments” and she has done so. The statement form Pelosi and others is another gift, an even better one that warrants a major offensive from the so-called progressives. It says:

“We are and will always be strong supporters of Israel in Congress because we understand that our support is based on shared values and strategic interests,"

But Pelosi and those that issued the above statement should be condemned themselves for admitting that they "share values" with an apartheid regime that is in essence a democracy for Jews only.  What values is Pelosi talking about? The shooting of unarmed children protesting the occupation of their lands?  Is it the imprisonment, torture and interrogation of 13 and 14-year old children without their parents or a lawyer present the values Pelosi is talking about? Perhaps the Jews only buses or the Jews only roads, or the wall? Maybe it's the anti-miscegenation laws.

“The world’s sins against the Jews were visited upon the Palestinians. Taking revenge on the Poles or Germans had been too difficult. It was easy to make the Palestinians pay for 2000 years of persecution.” *

The Bedouins, like Arab Jews, have lived in this area for thousands of years before the European colonial settler state was formed in 1948 yet they are driven from their lands to make room for Jewish settlers from various countries.  Israel uses all sorts of methods to deny Arabs and Muslims the right to participate or vote in this so-called democracy read, Thousands of Palestinians have no access to vote in the upcoming elections. The Zionists are in the ethnic cleansing business and Gaza is nothing but the world’s largest outdoor concentration camp. In the US, Christian Zionists are a major force as there are more of them and the Evangelicals support Israel on religious grounds as they believe what is occurring there is Biblical prophecy.

The horror at Rep Omar’s tweet has nothing to do with anti-Semitism or the right of Jews to live in Israel, they have for millennia. It has everything to do with Zionism and money in US politics. As for “strategic interests” this is the crux of the matter.   Israel is US imperialism’s most reliable ally in the region helping secure its continuing plunder of the region’s resources. The revolutionary potential of the Arab working class means they cannot be relied upon to play this role and the Arab spring showed why. Numerous despotic regimes fell in the matter of months, a number of them US supported dictators.

Ilhan Omar’s apology is a mistake and it will increase aggression from the party heads. The swift condemnation and calls for her resignation are confirmation of how correct she is as millions of Americans are well aware of the corrupt nature of the US Congress and its millionaire and billionaire occupants. 

Instead of an apology which is supported by her colleagues like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez but also from a more treacherous source in the form of Chelsea Clinton, Rep, Omar and the “dissident” left wing of the party and in particular those who claim to be socialists or are members of the DSA, should go on the offensive against Pelosi and the party power for defending the corrupt lobbying practices in US politics and the policies of the Zionists. They should be publicly called out for supporting what is clearly an Apartheid regime in Israel that receives billions of dollars from the US taxpayer.

Instead of listening to Pelosi and others (criticism from Trump and Pence is not worth any time at all) we share above the powerful speech by Gideon Levy, a respected and courageous Israeli Jew who ferociously condemns the brutal racist policies of his country. The freshly elected “dissidents” in the Democratic Party are rapidly losing credibility under fire and should heed Levy’s concerns.

Many of these “Young Turks” were elected on the basis of change in the form of halting the capitalist offensive and fighting for social reforms and a more equal society. Facts For Working People does not support the Democratic Party but were positive after Ocasio-Cortez’ victory over the long term Democratic Party machine candidate as it had the potential to increase the division between the left and right wing and hopefully lead to a left split. But this will not occur and no significant changes will take place without a huge internal struggle.  If Rep Omar and her supporters back away from this fight, they will face a far more fierce assault if they actually wage a political struggle within the Democratic Party and Congress for and direct their energies toward the working class as the source that can make those changes happen. Appeasing bullies empowers them. Chelsea Clinton is heading in the wrong direction.

*Original Sins: Reflections on the History of Zionism and Israel Benjamin Beit Hallahmi p175