As Democrats make the move to support Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is turning her back on a resolution that was proposed to specifically condemn anti-Semitism. And needless to say, House Democrats aren’t happy with her at the moment.
Last week, Omar made some undesirable comments about pro-Israel lawmakers showing loyalty to a foreign government, which set off a storm of protests. Many people consider her comments to be anti-Semitic, including Democratic Rep. Eliott Engel, who said that Omar’s comment was “a vile anti-Semitic slur.”
In response to the comments, Nancy Pelosi composed a resolution to outright condemn anti-Semitism. Unfortunately, the resolution ran into a few problems when the Democrats gathered together on Wednesday. Before the meeting, Pelosi said that the issues surrounding Omar and anti-Semitism “would be resolved” during the meeting.
But according to Fox News, the Democrat’s meeting became so intense that Pelosi walked out. Certain members of the progressive side of the party refused to agree to a resolution that could be seen as blatantly condemning Omar. Freshman Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley said, “Islamophobia needs to be included.” She also demanded “equity in our outrage,” and she said “We need to denounce all forms of hate. There is no hierarchy of hurt.”
Some of the Democrats believe that anything written in the resolution that seemingly punishes Omar is the wrong way to handle the situation. Democratic Rep. Raúl Grijalva said “What would be the appropriate level of punishment — a public flogging? We are all responsible for what we say, and there are consequences, whether it is this resolution or something else, but there is a double standard we have to be aware of. The level of condemnation on Ms. Omar has been really intense.”
Outsiders aren’t the only ones wondering why it seems to be so difficult to draw up a resolution. Mark Mellman, the founder of the Democratic Majority for Israel, said: “One would think it would be a lot simpler than it appears to be to pass a resolution condemning anti-Semitism.”
Josh Block, the head of the nonpartisan pro-Isreal group The Israel Project, said: “We can’t be silent as Omar continues to say these things, because if we are silent, we’re complicit in what is completely unacceptable.”
Even though he wasn’t involved in the meeting, President Trump had a bit to say about the situation, as well. “It is shameful that House Democrats won’t take a stronger stand against Anti-Semitism in their conference. Anti-Semitism has fueled atrocities throughout history and it’s inconceivable they will not act to condemn it!” he wrote on Twitter.
Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger said: ‘‘It looks like the Democrats are doing a nice job of chewing themselves up.” And Republican Rep. Liz Cheney from Wyoming said: “They should stop empowering her disgusting hatred before it turns into horror.” So, as it seems, Pelosi better come up with something better on the resolution because it’s very clear that her colleagues aren’t pleased with her at the moment.
