8 February 28 • 2019
jn

T

he apology was going so well.
Rep. Ilhan Omar was tweet-
ing an apology for saying that 
pro-Israel lawmakers are only that way 
because they are bought off, and her 
words were, at least 
at first, checking off 
every necessary box:
“
Anti-Semitic is real.” 
(Check!)
“I am grateful for 
Jewish allies who 
are educating me.” 
(Check!)
“My intention is 
to never offend Jewish Americans.
” 
(Check!)
And then, the microphone drop 
moment: “I unequivocally apologize.”
If only it had ended there. But Rep. 
Omar, who has a history of anti-Israel 
and anti-Semitic statements (including 
a past tweet asking that “
Allah awaken 
the people and help them see the evil 
doings of Israel”) just couldn’
t stop 
herself, and she added:
“BUT standing strong.
”
I’
m not exactly certain what she 
meant by that last line, but I do know 
that using the word “but” in an apolo-
gy kind of nullifies the whole thing — 
at least that’
s what my wife tells me.
Omar then announced that she 
would be appearing with Yousef 
Abdullah, an officer of Islamic Relief 
USA with a long record of hateful 
social media posts attacking Jews and 
Israel and showing support for terror-
ists.
If there was ever a way to issue a 
non-apology apology, Rep. Omar had 
done just that.
To many Americans, however, her 
words somehow signified a positive 
development, and many came to her 
defense. A CNN journalist, under the 
headline “Rep. Omar’
s Apology Sets 
the Right Example,
” stated that the 
incident had a “happy ending.
” Politico 
Contributing Editor Joshua Zeitz 
tweeted that he knew “exactly what 
the congresswoman meant” in her 
criticism of Israel and AIPAC (adding, 
by the way, that he “doesn’
t regard 
Israel as especially central to my Jewish 
identity.
”)
The whole incident just drove a 
deeper wedge in America, with critics 
calling for her resignation and sup-

porters raising funds for her.
But why shouldn’
t the Jewish com-
munity just accept her apology and 
move on? Forgiveness is a central 
theme of Judaism, so shouldn’
t her 
apology be a nice first step toward 
healing?
If only it were so simple. The prob-
lem is that we Jews are barraged by 
people who say one thing one moment 
and then contradict themselves in the 
next breath.
It’
s often a dizzying, confounding, 
seesaw blizzard of lies and double 
speak.
In many instances the double speak 
is so mind-boggling, so obviously hyp-
ocritical, that’
s it’
s almost amusing:
• Linda Sansour (the Woman’
s 
March co-chair) says she has “incredi-
ble Jewish” members in her movement 
whom she “loves,
” and then says that 
Farrakhan speaks “truth to power” 
and tweets “Nothing is creepier than 
Zionism.
”
• Rep. Rashida Tlaib states that “we 
have to fight against ... anti-Semitism” 
and then hosts an event in which 
she posed with a Hezbollah-backing 
anti-Israel activist who had called 
Israel a “terrorist entity.
” 
• Mahmoud Abbas, president of the 
Palestinian Authority, speaks about the 
“terrible, unforgivable crimes” against 
the Jewish people in the Holocaust and 
then blames the Holocaust on the Jews 
on account of their “social behavior.
”
• David Duke, the former Grand 
Wizard of the KKK, says that he’
s “not 
opposed to all Jews” and then denies 
the Holocaust ever happened and calls 
Israel a “terrorist organization.
”
• Louis Farrakhan insists he has 
plenty of “Jewish friends,
” yet he 

describes Hitler as a “very great man,
” 
calls Judaism a “gutter religion” and 
recently labeled Jews “termites.
”
• Marc Lamont Hill, the former 
CNN journalist, says he doesn’
t sup-
port anti-Semitism which, he claims, 
he “spent [his] life fighting,
” yet he 
calls for a Palestinian state “from the 
river to the sea,” which are known 
code words for the total elimination of 
Israel.
• Iranian President Hassan Rouhani 
tweets out a Rosh Hashanah greeting 
(“May our shared Abrahamic roots 
deepen our respect and bring peace 
and mutual understanding. L’
Shana 
Tova!”) and then calls Israel a “cancer-
ous tumor.
”
There’
s no end to the head-spinning 
examples, whether it’
s a politician, a 
journalist, a UN ambassador — or just 
the neighbor down the street. Even in 
our own everyday lives, haven’
t many 
of us had someone offer kind words 
about Jews, only to later reveal a differ-
ent sentiment?
Not surprisingly, history has taught 
us to become a bit leery of words 
alone. Too often we have been stung 
by false “friends” and phony displays 
of kindness. How often has Israel felt it 
was on a verge of a true breakthrough 
for peace, only to have its bubble burst 
shortly thereafter? Isn’
t that the whole 
lesson of Oslo and Camp David?
It’
s very tempting to want to believe 
someone who holds out an olive 
branch, but if the gesture is hollow 
and disingenuous, then it can do 
us great harm, something our tiny 
community can ill afford. As a people 
who comprise only 0.2 percent of the 
world population, the stakes for being 
misled are just too high for us. We 
have no choice but to be cautious; our 
self-preservation requires it.
It may be a sad thing to have to 
teach this to our children but having a 
healthy skepticism of someone’
s words 
— even an “unequivocal apology” 
from a U.S. congresswoman — is a les-
son well worth learning. 
■

Mark Jacobs is the AIPAC Michigan chair for 
African American Outreach, a co-director of the 
Coalition for Black and Jewish Unity, a board 
member of the Jewish Community Relations 
Council-AJC and the director of Jewish Family 
Service’
s Legal Referral Committee.

guest column
“I’m Sorry, But...”

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Mark Jacobs

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Rep. Ilhan Omar

Re//Turning: A Jewish 
Spirituality Retreat

Get excited for mindfulness meditation, 
yoga, song, experiential writing, art 
projects, nature walks, Jewish mysticism 
chats and alternative prayer experiences 
at Re//Turning: A Jewish Spirituality 
Retreat, a program hosted by The Well 
March 22-24 at the Butzel Conference 
Center.
The Well is excited to welcome Rabbi 
Benjamin Shalva as its Scholar-In-
Residence. A rabbi, writer, meditation 
teacher and yoga instructor, Shalva 
regularly leads seminars in Spiritual 
Cross-Training, Kabbalah Yoga, Jewish 
Meditation and Mindfulness Meditation. 
He received his rabbinical ordination 
from the Jewish Theological Seminary 
and his yoga teacher certification from 
the Yogic Physical Culture Academy in 
Los Cabos, Mexico. He is the author of 
two books — Spiritual Cross-Training: 
Searching through Silence, Stretch and 
Song and Ambition Addiction: How to 
Go Slow, Give Thanks, and Discover Joy 
Within.
Tickets are available on eventbrite.com 
at the subsidized cost of $100 due to the 
generosity of donors and through a gen-
erous subsidy from Moishe House, who 
is serving as a sponsor for this event. 
Questions? Reach out to Brandon 
Klein, The Well’
s programs and part-
nerships coordinator, at brandon@
meetyouatthewell.org. ■

Jewish Justices of the 
Supreme Court
Join SAJE as it welcomes Dr. David 
Dalin for a talk on “Jewish Justices of 
the Supreme Court,” 7 
p.m. Monday, March 
18, at the JCC of Metro 
Detroit.
 From Louis Brandeis 
to Elena Kagan, eight 
Jews have served on the 
U.S. Supreme Court. 
Dalin will explore the 
lives of these justices 
and their connections to their Jewish 
heritage.
Dalin, a historian and rabbi, is a 
Senior Research Fellow at Brandeis 
University and is the author, co-author 
or editor of 12 books, most recently 
Jewish Justices of the Supreme Court, 
from Brandeis to Kagan: Their Lives 
and Legacies.
The program is free and open to the 
public; no registration required. Light 
refreshments will be served.
SAJE is endowed by a generous gift 
from Cis Maisel and is supported by 
Cis Maisel, Sheri and David Jaffa, and 
Sophie Pearlstein (z”l). ■

Dr. David Dalin

