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...” views Mark Jacobs COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG 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