"There's a kind of a calming feeling, I always tell folks, when I think of the Holocaust and the tragedy of the Holocaust, and the fact that it was my ancestors - Palestinians - who lost their land, and some lost their lives, their livelihood, their human dignity, their existence, in many ways, had been wiped out. I mean, just all of it was in the name of trying to create a safe haven for Jews, post the Holocaust, post the tragedy and horrific persecution of Jews across the world at that time. I love the fact that it was my ancestors that provided that, right, in many ways. But they did it in a way that took their human dignity away, right? And it was forced on them. And so, when I think about one-state, I think about the fact that, why couldn't we do it in a better way?" So said Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, a self-described Palestinian-American, Muslim.
The controversy that ensued was quick and partisan. President Trump and other Republicans immediately condemned Tlaib for her insensitive and anti-Semitic remarks. After all, how does "calming feeling" belong in the same sentence with "the Holocaust?" But Tlaib fought back, claiming that Republicans were twisting her words and taking them out of context. So, let us take the words in context. If she feels calm thinking about the Holocaust, that is just sick, whether or not you believe she is anti-Semitic. She says her people lost everything - their life, livelihood, land, and dignity. Does she have a calming feeling thinking about what happened to her people? How is that possible, especially since she says their circumstances were forced on them? Clearly, none of it makes any sense, unless...
Let's take a look at the accuracy of her historical comments. First, she refers to her ancestors - the "Palestinians" - of the 1940's. The PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) first started using the term "Palestinian" to refer to themselves/Arabs after Israel won the 1967 war. Prior to that, the Arabs were called, well, Arabs. There were the Jews of Palestine and the Arabs of Palestine. Palestine was a geographic area covering a large swath of land in the Middle East. Tlaib then tells us that her people gave up much "in the name of trying to create a safe haven for Jews." But she tells us that her people were "forced" to do so. That must mean that she knows that the Arabs did not voluntarily try to create a safe haven for the Jews in the Middle East. In fact, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem sided with Hitler during the war, and desired to import Hitler's "final solution" to the Jews of the Middle East. In fact, the day after the State of Israel announced its independence, the Arab world attacked the new country. So much for wanting to provide a safe haven for the Jews.
Earlier this month, Tlaib read this headline in the New York Times: "Gaza Militants Fire 250 Rockets, and Israel Responds with Airstrikes." Tlaib was incensed, and tweeted this: "When will the world stop dehumanizing our Palestinian people who just want to be free? Headlines like this and framing it this way just feeds into the continued lack of responsibility on Israel who unjustly oppress and target Palestinian children and families. #Free Palestine." So, maybe we are supposed to believe that she gets a calming feeling that her people helped to launch a country that she believes oppresses her people and targets children? (She does not mention that hundreds of rockets were fired from Gaza into civilian areas of Israel; nor does she care that Israel only retaliated after the rockets were fired. Israel targets children and families? No - Hamas uses them as "human shields," knowing that the mainstream media in the US and Europe will always plaster pictures of injured/dead Palestinians across their front pages.) Palestinian people just want to be free? She really means the end of Israel as the sole Jewish state in the world, as she seeks a "one-state" solution, with her people in charge.
So, what should we believe calms Tlaib? The Holocaust? The losses suffered by her people? Or the establishment of a country that she says oppresses her people and targets children? None of it makes sense. But, if it is simply a pretext for "do(ing) it a better way" with the "one-state" solution that she favors, then maybe there is a modicum of logic. And what better way to get there than to tell a fictional story about Israel's mistreatment of the "Palestinians," after all that the "Palestinians" did for the Jews. Now, it's time for the "Palestinians" to be in charge.
Tlaib's ideological companion, Ilhan Omar, said this after the recent mini-war between Israel and Hamas: "How many more protesters must be shot, rockets must be fired, and little kids must be killed until the endless cycle of violence ends?" And: "The status quo of occupation and humanitarian crisis in Gaza is unsustainable." Protesters? Does Omar mean violent aggressors who attempt to breach the border with Israel, and who launch hundreds of projectiles into Israel, including burning kites? Why must rockets be fired? What occupation? Israel vacated Gaza in 2005. Humanitarian crisis? Not if Hamas had used the hundreds of millions of dollars in aid they received to actually build a civil society - rather than turn Gaza into a military depot.
Once again, the Democrat leadership made excuses for the comments made by another anti-Semitic congresswoman. Speaker Pelosi previously excused Omar's anti-Semitic comments by asserting that the articulate Omar had a different experience with the use of words. What nonsense. This time, Pelosi tweeted: "Republicans' desperate attempts to smear @Rep. Rashida and misrepresent her comments are outrageous." Nothing about the historical inaccuracies, let alone the use of the term "calming" with "the Holocaust." Pelosi went on to claim that Trump and the Republicans needed to apologize to Tlaib and the "American people" for their "gross misrepresentations." House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer made similar comments.
It is bad enough that support for Israel has become politicized. Now, anti-Semitism is politicized. I have said it before. When the Democratic leadership excuses anti-Semitism, when there are no consequences for making anti-Semitic comments, it tends to normalize it. And once normalized, we can expect more of it.
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