Source: The Washington Post
Why do so many American politicians, from state legislators and governors to members of Congress to presidents, express such passionate support for the State of Israel? Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) sparked a social media controversy Sunday night by asserting that the answer lies in campaign donations.
Responding to a tweet by journalist Glenn Greenwald complaining about “how much time US political leaders spend defending a foreign nation,” Omar tweeted “It’s all about the Benjamins, baby” — a reference to a 1997 hit by rapper Puff Daddy. Challenged to explain by Batya Ungar-Sargon, opinion editor at Jewish publication the Forward, Omar answered “AIPAC!”
Omar’s tweet had similarities with classic anti-Semitism. Beliefs that Jews use wealth and control of the media to manipulate other nations dates to the Middle Ages and is a major theme of the infamous forgery “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.” In the United States, its prominent advocates included Henry Ford, who used his newspaper, the Dearborn Independent, to promote anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. It is not clear whether Omar intended to evoke these beliefs, although she did also claim in a 2012 tweet that “Israel has hypnotized the world.”
Categories: America, Christianity, Israel, Middle East, The Muslim Times, USA
whatever – I feel we should not mix-up anti-semitism with criticism of the policies of the State of Israel.