(FiveNation.com)- Reps. Nancy Mace (SC), Victoria Spartz (IN), and Ken Buck (CO), along with a few other Republicans, have hinted that they would not back House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) attempt to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) from the committee.
But, in a letter to McCarthy and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), the Coalition for Jewish Values pleaded with Congress to carry through McCarthy’s promise to remove her from the committee. Omar has a long history of anti-Semitism, and the group, which represents more than 2,000 rabbis, is pleading with congressional leaders to remove her from the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld, President, and Rabbi Yaakov Menken, Managing Director, wrote that this is not a political question but “one of moral conscience.” They feel it is an essential move to stop the increasing tide of antisemitic rhetoric and violence presently affecting Jewish communities throughout America. The rabbis wrote that inviting Omar to the committee would encourage anti-Semitism in Congress and across the United States.
The letter was written after Omar said in a CNN interview on Sunday that she was unaware of the “trading in antisemitism” that her anti-Semitic remarks were engaging in.
The group listed numerous additional examples of Omar’s anti-Semitism and claimed it was “clear that Congress’ failure to distance itself from Rep. Omar’s bigotry helped create the environment of hate now evident in New York and across the country, precisely as Lord Rabbi Sacks warned.”
The rabbis said they wrote to the former Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, on three consecutive occasions to make this identical request, to no avail.
“While antisemitic hate crimes became more prevalent in our nation, we were disregarded each time.”
When they learned that Rep. Omar had been appointed to the Foreign Affairs Committee, they wrote Pelosi to express their “alarm, dismay, and indignation,” as Ms. Omar had “often used antisemitic stereotypes even before being elected to Congress.”
Rep. Omar demonstrated that her racism remained unabated less than a month later, prompting them to resubmit their request. She indicated that House colleagues who backed Israel had been paid off, among other stereotypes of Jewish treachery. It’s all about the Benjamins, she wrote.
The group concluded that Rep. Omar’s removal from the Foreign Affairs committee is “the only ethically appropriate decision for a Member of Congress who condemns racism, bigotry, and antisemitism.”
“We kindly request that each and every member act against bigotry aimed at those who are more commonly the target in order to show their support for all of America’s minorities.”
Do you hear them Mace, Spartz, and Buck?
