US House broadly condemns hate amid divide over Ilhan Omar

Click here to access article from Al Jazeera. (Note that Rep. Ilhan Omar is a US Congresswoman from a district in Minneapolis.)

"I want to talk about ... political influence in this country that says it's OK for people to push for allegiance for a foreign country," Omar said during a Washington, DC event. "I want to ask why is it OK for me to talk about influence of the NRA, or fossil fuels industries, or big pharma, and not to talk about powerful lobbying that is influencing policy."

After the event, Jonathan Greenblatt, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said in a letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi that the comments were a "vile anti-Semitic slur". Some in the House, including Eliot Engel and Nita Lowey, publicly criticised Omar and demanded an apology. 

You may also be interested in a post from Guns and Butter in which Bonnie Faulkner, the show's host, interviews Alison Weir for about one hour.

We discuss Alison Weir’s extended essay, published as a pamphlet, “The International Campaign to Criminalize Criticism of Israel”; the traditional definition of anti-Semitism and the new “improved” 3-D definition of anti-Semitism; the history of the campaign to criminalize criticism of Israel; the many international and national organizations that have adopted and promote the new definition; policing the new anti-Semitism on college campuses; thought crime; AIPAC and ADL; the crack-down on pro-Palestinian political activity; the multiple hundreds of groups that lobby for Israel; current congressional legislation.