It was only one sentence, uttered to reporters who had gathered round Consultant Ilhan Omar of Minnesota final week when she turned up at a Columbia College encampment to supply a present of assist for pro-Palestinian protesters — amongst them, her daughter, a scholar activist — demonstrating towards the Israeli assaults on Gaza.
Ms. Omar, one of many main pro-Palestinian voices in Congress, rejected the argument that the protests had been antisemitic, noting that lots of the contributors had been Jewish. “All Jewish youngsters” ought to be stored protected, she mentioned, regardless of which aspect they had been on within the debate — or, as she framed it, “whether or not they’re pro-genocide or anti-genocide.”
However together with her formulation that Jews who assist the Israeli army marketing campaign are “pro-genocide,” Ms. Omar plunged into what has grow to be an more and more turbulent storm for a lot of on the American left because it confronts questions concerning the extent to which antisemitism is shadowing demonstrations which have damaged out on campuses from New York to Los Angeles.
Ms. Omar is a Democrat and one in every of two Muslim girls within the Home, and he or she was elected with the endorsement of, amongst others, President Biden.
“That phrasing is despicable,” mentioned Rabbi David Wolpe, a visiting scholar at Harvard Divinity Faculty, who resigned from a Harvard antisemitism panel after the college was swept by protests towards Israel.
“I don’t know anybody who’s pro-genocide,” mentioned Mr. Wolpe, who mentioned he was strolling by an encampment at Harvard as he spoke on his cellphone. “In the midst of condemning antisemitism, it shows antisemitism. Which is an astonishing paradox — I imply it’s a tragic paradox.”
The remarks by Ms. Omar had been the most recent instance of how the conflict within the Center East has proved to be an agonizingly troublesome problem to navigate throughout the political spectrum, however notably on the left, which has break up from the Democratic Get together’s lengthy historical past of assist for Israel.
A number of the critics of Israel have appeared to battle to differentiate opposition to the insurance policies of the Israeli authorities below Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, and what many Jewish leaders see as antisemitism unleashed over the previous six months, which, of their view, has fueled lots of the protests. Jewish college students have mentioned they felt threatened by the demonstrations on many campuses.
Ms. Omar confirmed no indicators of pulling again on her assertion, citing experiences of threats towards Muslims for the reason that Hamas assault that set off the conflict. She pointed to an article in The Intercept reporting that college students on the College of Massachusetts at Amherst had yelled out “Kill All Arabs.” In a publish on X, she mentioned: “That is the pro-genocide I used to be speaking about, are you able to condemn this like I’ve condemned antisemitism and bigotry of all type?”
The truth that there are Jews protesting towards Israel at Columbia ought to be no shock: It displays the ideological range of American Jews on this problem. Many Jews, like many protesters at campuses from Columbia to the College of Southern California, are essential of the assaults launched by the Netanyahu authorities which have resulted in so many civilian casualties — whereas remaining firmly supportive of the existence of the Jewish state.
Ms. Omar’s remarks appeared to additional polarize an already polarizing problem. “It’s abhorrent {that a} sitting member of Congress would slander a whole group of younger folks in such a chilly, calculated method,” Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief director of the Anti-Defamation League, mentioned on social media. “That is how folks get killed.”
And it appeared to place a few of her allies on the left in an uncomfortable place, together with Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. When Mr. Sanders was requested on CNN if he was “comfy” with what she mentioned, he responded: “Look, what I believe the important level that Ilhan made is that we don’t wish to see antisemitism on this nation. And I believe the phrase genocide is one thing that’s being decided by the Worldwide Court docket of Justice.”
In her remarks at Columbia, Ms. Omar mentioned that it was “actually unlucky that folks don’t care about the truth that all Jewish youngsters ought to be stored protected, and that we should always not need to tolerate antisemitism or bigotry for all Jewish college students, whether or not they’re pro-genocide or anti-genocide.”
Her communications director, Jacklyn Rogers, mentioned Ms. Omar had “clearly condemned antisemitism and bigotry for all Jewish college students.”
“Makes an attempt to misconstrue her phrases are supposed to distract from the continued violence and genocide occurring in Gaza and the massive antiwar protests taking place throughout our nation and all over the world,” Ms. Rogers mentioned.
All this confirmed few indicators of reducing temperatures. Mr. Wolpe criticized Ms. Omar for attempting to invoke the presence of a small group of Jewish demonstrators to rebut what he mentioned was robust proof of antisemitic sentiment on the demonstrations.
“It is a attribute maneuver that I’m not shocked to listen to from Omar,” he mentioned. “I believe lots of the scholars on the encampment are genuinely first rate. However there’s undoubtedly a core that aren’t.”
