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
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Rep. Ilhan Omar
Re//Turning: A Jewish
Spirituality Retreat
Get excited for mindfulness meditation,
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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
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or editor of 12 books, most recently
Jewish Justices of the Supreme Court,
from Brandeis to Kagan: Their Lives
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The program is free and open to the
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SAJE is endowed by a generous gift
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Cis Maisel, Sheri and David Jaffa, and
Sophie Pearlstein (z”l). ■
Dr. David Dalin