Anti-hate resolution passed after controversy over Israel comments by Rep. Ilhan Omar
House legislators, targeting a comment by the Minnesota freshman, made a statement about what they felt was anti-semitic rhetoric
On Thursday, the U.S. House voted unanimously to pass a resolution that condemns bigotry and anti-Semitism in response to controversial comments made by Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar about Israel, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports.
The freshman legislator made recent comments suggesting House supporters of Israel in America are pushing U.S. lawmakers to take “allegiance to a foreign country.”
READ MORE: Rep. Omar apologizes after critics call ‘Benjamins’ comment anti-Semitic
“I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK to push for allegiance to a foreign country,” Omar had said at an event in Washington D.C., last week.
That comment sent Democrats scrambling to respond.
Such words “have no place in our public discourse and indeed can be very dangerous,” Rep. Eliot Engel, a New York Democrat, said during the floor debate. “I must say that the words spoken by our colleague from Minnesota … went to a very raw place for me.”
The seven-page anti-hate resolution passed on a vote of 407-23.
“Whether from the political right, center, or left, bigotry, discrimination, oppression, racism, and imputations of dual loyalty threaten American democracy and have no place in American political discourse,” the resolution read.
The members of the Minnesota’s House delegation, including Omar, voted in favor.
READ MORE: Farrakhan advises Rep. Omar not to apologize for controversial Israel comments
“Anti-Semitism is on the rise in America today. Attacks are at the highest rate on record,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on the House floor
It is the second time in as many months that Omar has been accused of anti-Semitism.
Last month, she apologized for a tweet that came as a response to a journalist tweeting that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, had threatened punishment for Omar and House colleague Rashida Tlaib, a Muslim-American and a Democrat from Michigan, for their stances on Israel. In response, Omar tweeted, “It’s all about the Benjamins baby.”
Things also became dramatic when Omar suggested in a tweet that there are members of Congress paid by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) to support Israel.
