Omar criticized for calling some Jewish students ‘genocide supporters’

Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, whose daughter was one of the students arrested at the Columbia University protests against Israel’s actions in Gaza, suggested while meeting with protesters on campus last week that some Jewish students support genocide. We do.

Ms. Omar, a Democrat, was dismissive of the argument that the protests were anti-Semitic, noting that many of the participants were Jewish.

“I think it’s really unfortunate that people don’t care about the fact that all Jewish children should be kept safe, and that we should not tolerate anti-Semitism or bigotry toward all Jewish students, regardless of whether they are victims of the Holocaust. Pro- or anti-genocide,” he said.

Earlier in the week, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson used his visit to Columbia to suggest that President Biden should call out the National Guard to college campuses, a possibility that prompted the National Guard to disperse four unarmed student protesters in Kent. took into account the murder of. State University in Ohio during the Vietnam War. He was joined by his Republican colleague Anthony D’Esposito, who accused the pro-Palestinian protesters of being “proud that you are endorsed by Hamas.”

Representative Jared Moskowitz of Florida, who came to Columbia with other Democrats who support Israel, compared some of the protesters to white nationalists who marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.

And at Washington University in St. Louis, Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein joined a demonstration and was arrested along with dozens of other protesters.

Pro-Palestinian student protests have spread and intensified in the wake of police actions at Columbia, with a procession of politicians visiting campuses with words of support or condemnation. The attacks underscore how deeply the protests have become entwined with American politics — and the extent to which many elected officials are taking sides that, if not for the police response and statements from national figures. So maybe it would have been a small subplot. The big story of what’s happening in Gaza.

The leader of the Anti-Defamation League reacted sharply to Ms Omar’s suggestion that some Jewish students were Holocaust sympathizers. calling it “Blood libel” and CNN on Sunday asked Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont if he was “comfortable” with it. (Mr. Sanders, who is Jewish and supports the protests, said that protesting anti-Semitism was Ms. Omar’s “essential point,” and that the term “genocide” is something that is being determined by the International Court of Justice. “)

Ms. Omar responded to the ADL’s criticism by citing comments reported by Palestinian and other Arab students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, including “kill all Arabs” and “level Gaza.” He wrote on social media“This is the Holocaust sympathizer I was talking about, can you condemn it like I have condemned anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry?”

The campus tour began last Monday with a group of pro-Israel Democrats: Mr. Moskowitz, Daniel Goldman of New York, Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey and Kathy Manning of North Carolina. Later in an interview with CNN, Mr. Moskowitz referred to comments such as “Go back to Poland” and said, “I know the people who are saying that, you know, they’re not white Aryan men with tiki torches. But their message is the same.”

At several points, there has been division between the student camps – which have been peaceful and have included many Jewish participants – and demonstrations off campus, where some have made openly anti-Semitic comments.

House Speaker Mr. Johnson visited Columbia on Wednesday with several other House Republicans: Mr. D’Esposito, Mike Lawler and Nicole Malliotakis of New York, and Virginia Foxx of North Carolina.

Mr. Johnson met privately with Jewish students, then called on Mr. Biden to call out the National Guard and asked Congress to “revoke federal funding to these universities if they can’t take control.” “Powerful people have refused to condemn it, and some have even encouraged it themselves,” he said, referring to anti-Semitism.

Some protesters jeered him, and a pro-Israel counter-demonstrator dismissed his visit as “a political stunt.”

That trip, in turn, took place a week after the event that sparked the protests: Colombia’s president, Nemat Shafik, who, according to Minoche, appeared under questioning by a congressional committee led by Republican representative Elise Stefanik of New York. Testified before. , who has questioned several college presidents over allegations that they have failed to combat anti-Semitism on campus.

Ms. Shafiq called on the New York Police Department to break up the pro-Palestinian encampment the next day. More than 100 students were arrested, but protesters decamped again and the protests quickly spread to other campuses across the country.

Mr Johnson and his group were followed by Ms Omar, who was followed by two other Democrats from the progressive “squad” – Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamal Bowman of New York, who met with protesters in Columbia to express support.

And hundreds of miles away, at Washington University in St. Louis, Ms. Stein was arrested on Saturday along with dozens of students.