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How Does Ilhan Omar Really Feel About Iran?
Last week’s launch of more than 300 drones and missiles marked the first time that Iran had attacked Israel from its territory. For years, Iran’s malign behavior has focused on accelerating its nuclear weapons program and strengthening its terror proxies. The country’s decision to directly confront Israel sparked condemnations from across the aisle, with Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) affirming that “as Israel faces this vicious attack from Iran, America must show our full resolve to stand with our critical ally. The world must be assured: Israel is not alone.” Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ (D-NY) online post mirrored a similar promise that America will “stand with the people of Israel during this moment of significant challenge.”
Unsurprisingly, members of the Democratic Party’s far-left faction, known as “The Squad,” remained quiet Saturday evening after news broke of Iran’s unprecedented assault against the Jewish nation. After years of maligning Israel in Congress, their refusal to immediately respond to the Islamic Republic’s blatant aggression illustrates a calculated effort aimed at fostering a false moral equivalence between Israel and Iran, the leading global sponsor of terror.
For her part, Democrat Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (MN) released a delayed statement on Sunday, nearly 24 hours following Iran’s missile barrage against Israel. Her comments denounced “leaders in Washington” rushing to provide “additional offensive weapons to the Israeli military,” and also linked Iran’s terrorist intentions with Israel’s alleged actions in Syria earlier in April, which resulted in the killing of General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and a mastermind of attacks against Israeli civilians. That’s why he was in Syria.
Indeed, Omar’s connecting the incidents reflects her pattern of distortions about Israel’s strategic and political realities in the region.
Omar’s deployment of troubling language and her postponed communication in the aftermath of last Saturday’s attack embodies the politician’s habit of redirecting criticism away from Iran through a dual approach of issuing libelous accusations against Israel, in tandem with ignoring Iranian terror.
For example, this week, the US House of Representatives passed a series of pro-Israel and anti-Iran bills and resolutions. One item considered was a straightforward resolution condemning “Iran’s Unprecedented Drone and Missile Attack on Israel.” The legislative proposal passed the House on Thursday in an overwhelming 404-14 vote. Omar was one of 13 Democrats voting against the non-controversial measure, which denounces Iran’s brazen actions targeting millions of Israelis this past Saturday and reaffirms Israel’s right to self-defense.
Another bill on the floor Monday — the “No US Financing for Iran Act” — split liberal-leaning legislators, with 104 Democrats voting against restricting US financial entities, such as the Treasury Department, from conducting specific transactions with Iran. It bears mentioning that Minority Leader Jeffries joined Omar and over 100 progressive colleagues in voting against the measure. That approximately half of House Democrats blocked a motion that would impose financial penalties on the world’s most potent terrorist arm suggests a disturbing depth of ideological capture within the party’s movement. It’s a phenomenon that was absent decades ago, and yet is now stoked by lawmakers like Omar, whose reach is maximized by an intersectional agenda championed by far-leftists and accommodated by moderates.
Moreover, Omar’s views not only fall outside the American mainstream, but her instincts to placate Iran are at odds with an increasing number of Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Jordan, whose commitments to coalescing against extremism were evidenced on Saturday, as both countries played parts in intercepting Iranian missiles bound for Israel.
In an interview with Israeli Public Broadcaster KAN News this week, a source from the Saudi royal family alluded to Iran fomenting terror and its involvement in the October 7 massacre, claiming that Iran’s role in Hamas’ attack stemmed from a desire to thwart an Israel-Saudi normalization agreement.
And since reports first surfaced highlighting Iran’s complicity in plotting the events of October 7, more details are emerging on the sums of cash gifted to Hamas from Iran, with some of the payments totaling millions dollars directly handed to Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s leader in Gaza.
This month, The Times of London revealed details surrounding the economic windfall Hamas receives from Tehran in an exclusive report. The Times feature outlines a batch of secret letters discovered by Israel’s military, with some showing specific payments being made to the terrorist group between 2014 and 2020, totaling over $150 million. Omar’s refusal to acknowledge evidence implicating Iran in the October 7 attacks demonstrates a concerted policy of protecting a regime whose rogue actions and threatening rhetoric take aim at the Jewish state, and the entire free world.
In fact, mere hours after Palestinian terrorists perpetrated the worst mass attack against the Jews since the Holocaust, Omar was demanding “deescelation and ceasefire.” Over six months later, Omar’s calls for a ceasefire repeatedly consists of lofty language on the need for “peace” and “humanity.” Yet absent from these proclamations are any mention of Iran. Instead, the Minnesota Congresswoman persists in granting Iran a pass for its evil behavior, while sharing continuous streams of propaganda directed at Israel. What’s more, by blocking bills designed to kneecap the Islamic regime’s financial flow, Omar is indicating that the antisemitism defining her Congressional tenure is now manifesting through a carefully crafted platform, rendering America’s foreign enemy free of any disapproval.
Since taking office in 2019, Omar has advanced the Democratic Party’s absorption of an ideology antithetical to American ideals and Western values. Her unwillingness to condemn Iran cements her stain on Congress and piques the curiosity of those questioning which side of the anti-Iran terror equation Ilhan Omar falls on?
Irit Tratt is an independent writer residing in New York. Follow her on X @Irit_Tratt.
The post How Does Ilhan Omar Really Feel About Iran? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Students of Columbia University Affiliate School Petition Administration to Hire Pro-Hamas Professor
The “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” at Columbia University, located in the Manhattan borough of New York City, on April 25, 2024. Photo: Reuters Connect
Students of the Union Theological Seminary (UTS), an affiliate school of Columbia University, are pushing the institution to hire an academic who was just terminated for defending the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel.
Dr. Mohamed Abdou, a visiting professor in modern Arab studies who defended Hamas after the terrorist group slaughtered over 1,200 people and kidnapped about 250 others during its Oct. 7 onslaught, was reportedly relieved of his duties at Columbia University as of Sunday. Following Abdou’s firing, UTS students circulated a petition calling on the seminary to extend the anti-Israel academic an offer of employment.
“We condemn Columbia University’s efforts to stifle any mobilization around [the Palestinian] cause and its repressive, anti-Palestinian victimization of Dr. Abdou,” the petition reads.
“We ask the UTS administration to hire Dr. Abdou for the 2024-2025 academic year,” the petition continues.
During a US congressional hearing on campus antisemitism in April, Columbia President Minouche Shafik promised lawmakers that the university would terminate Abdou at the conclusion of the school year, citing his repeated public endorsements of violence against Israel and endorsement of terrorist groups.
During a Jan. 5 interview with Revolutionary Left Radio, Abdou heaped praise on Hamas, referring to the terrorist organization as a “resistance” and dismissed criticism of the terrorist organization as “white supremacy.” In the aftermath of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, many pro-Palestinian groups have similarly defended Hamas a a “resistance” group and referred to the Oct. 7 atrocities as “self-defense.”
On Jan. 16. the Columbia Middle East Institute tapped Abdou to serve as lead instructor for a course on “Decolonial-Queerness & Abolition.” According to the course description, students analyzed “Euro-American informed modernity animated by (neo)liberal-Enlightenment values (free will/humanity, secularism, racial capitalism)” and “contemporary conceptualizations of family, kinship, and friendship in Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities within the context of settler-colonial societies (as the U.S./Canada) as well as in postcolonial nations and regions (as Southwest Asia, Africa, and the Middle East) that arguably never underwent adequate decolonization.”
Abdou faced intense criticism after a student recorded and circulated a course lecture in which he denounced Israel as a “settler colonial” entity that was inspired by American-style beliefs on private property, gender, and sexuality.
Following Shafik’s congressional testimony, Abdou claimed that the Columbia president “lied” about his firing and accused her of “misrepresenting” his opinions. He reiterated his support for Islamist terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, both of which are backed by Iran.
Abdou’s public support for terrorism has caused a firestorm of controversy with Columbia students and alumni, calling into question the university’s commitment to fostering a tolerant and safe environment for Jewish and Israeli students.
Abdou indicated gratitude for the petition on X/Twitter, saying that he is “indebted for this generous initiative.” He called on his supporters to sign and spread the petition “as far [and] as wide as possible.”
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Australian War Memorials Vandalized With Pro-Hamas Graffiti
A war memorial in Canberra was vandalized by anti-Israel graffiti. Photo: Screenshot
Multiple memorials near the Australian War Memorial have been defaced with anti-Israel graffiti as Australian policymakers grapple with how to manage a rise in antisemitism that has continued unabated since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Located on Anzac Parade — named in honor of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) — near downtown Canberra, vandals spray-painted pro-Hamas messages onto sites dedicated to those who died fighting for Australia in war. The messages included “Free Palestine,” “Free Gaza,” “Blood on your hands,” and “From the river to the sea” — the last of which is a popular slogan among anti-Israel activists calling for the destruction of the Jewish state, which is located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
The Australian National Korean War Memorial, Australian Vietnam Forces National Memorial, and the Australian Army National Memorial were all targeted over the weekend, as well as a wall between the memorials along Anzac Parade.
The incidents sparked outcry among Australian lawmakers and members of the Jewish community. In parliament, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the vandalism as “criminal” and called for the perpetrators to “get exposed publicly as well for who they are. We know what they are — they’re unworthy of having any respect and any leniency as a result of their own actions.”
The Australian Jewish Association wrote on X/Twitter in response to the desecration of the war memorials, “The anti-Israel movement is one of the ugliest Australia has ever seen.”
Condemnation of the vandalism by Australia’s politicians was not universal, however. On the far left, Green Party Senator Jordan Steele-John refused to support a motion from a fellow lawmaker condemning the memorials’ desecration. “War memorials are not politically neutral spaces,” Steele-John argued to the Senate.
Adam Brandt – the leader of the Green Party who days after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel condemned “Israel’s occupation — declined to comment on whether vandalism is a legitimate form of protest.
Over 17,000 ANZAC soldiers fought in Korea and 60,000 in Vietnam. ANZAC forces also participated in the Gallipoli campaign of World War I.
Australia’s Senate has faced growing calls to recognize a Palestinian state. Recently, Fatima Payman — a newly elected senator and member of the majority Labour party — was suspended by Albanese after voting against the Labour Party’s official position when she supported a Green Party motion for Palestinian statehood.
Meanwhile, the city council of Sydney — one of Australia’s largest and wealthiest cities — last week passed a motion calling on lawmakers to review its investment portfolio to determine whether it is linked to companies which provide arms and other services to the state of Israel. Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore, who is not formally affiliated with any political party, backed the idea to move toward adopting the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement.
Such political steps have come amid a surge in antisemitic incidents across Australia.
In just the first seven and a half weeks after the Oct. 7 atrocities, antisemitic activity in Australia increased by a staggering 591 percent, according to a tally of incidents by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
In one notorious episode in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas onslaught, hundreds of pro-Hamas protesters gathered outside the Sydney Opera House chanting “gas the Jews,” “f—k the Jews,” and other epithets.
The explosion of hate also included violence such as a brutal attack on a Jewish man in a park in Sydney in late October.
Pro-Hamas sentiment has also led to vandalism. Last month, the US consulate in Sydney was vandalized and defaced by an unidentified man carrying a sledgehammer who smashed the windows and graffitied inverted red triangles on the building. The inverted red triangle has become a common symbol at pro-Hamas rallies. The Palestinian terrorist group, which rules Gaza, has used inverted red triangles in its propaganda videos to indicate Israeli targets about to be attacked. According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), “the red triangle is now used to represent Hamas itself and glorify its use of violence.”
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Rabbi Tory Candidate Berated Outside British Mosque, Called a ‘Snake’ and ‘Child Killer’
Illustrative: A pro-Hamas march in London, United Kingdom, Feb. 17, 2024. Photo: Chrissa Giannakoudi via Reuters Connect
A rabbi and Tory parliamentary candidate in England was berated with accusations of “smiling like a snake” and supporting the murder of children during a recent visit to a mosque in Greater Manchester, which has become a hub of antisemitic activity since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.
Rabbi Arnold Saunders, the Conservative candidate for the heavily Jewish seat of Bury South, was invited last week to Bilal Mosque, located in the town of Prestwich, by its elders. During his visit, however, a member of the mosque began aggressively shouting at the elderly rabbi, who uses a cane, according to video circulated on X /Twitter.
“You are a snake”
WATCH the threatening way Rabbi Arnie Saunders was treated when he was invited to the Bilal Mosque in Prestwich, Manchester in his role as the Conservative candidate for Bury South by the mosque elders. That he was allowed to be abused, intimidated and have his… pic.twitter.com/X4PZTsteLq
— NW Friends of Israel (@NorthWestFOI) June 30, 2024
In the video, the enraged worshiper can be seen demanding that Saunders “condemn the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] in the strongest terms” for its military campaign targeting Hamas in Gaza.
“Don’t come to the house of Allah and try to engage with us when we know that what when you’re in your own places you’re saying that it is good that they are killing children,” the man continued.
“He’s happy that children are dying. Ask him to go,” he told mosque officials. “We don’t want to engage with these people.”
Muslim worshipers berate Rabbi Arnold Saunders outside of a mosque in Greater Manchester, England. Photo: Screenshot
“You come here and smile like a snake,” the protestor screamed at the rabbi as he stood up to leave.
Saunders attempted multiple times to respond to the man’s accusations but was repeatedly cut off. According to the video, other members of the mosque watching the exchange did not attempt to defend the rabbi.
British Jewish organizations quickly condemned the abuse of Saunders.
“We are disgusted by the abusive treatment of Rabbi Arnold Saunders … the footage clearly shows the rabbi was being targeted in this fashion due to his religion,” the UK’s main Jewish organization, the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said in a statement. “We urge all who care about the health of our democracy to call out this bigotry.”
The Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester & Region (JRC) similarly lambasted the treatment of Saunders.
“Rabbi Saunders is a much respected communal figure and we unequivocally condemn his treatment in this video. It is unquestionably antisemitic and we expect action to be taken,” the organization posted to social media. “The fact he has been attacked emphasizes how individuals are importing the tragic conflict taking place in Israel and Gaza onto the streets of the UK.”
North West Friends of Israel, an organization supporting Jews in the northwestern UK condemned the scene as well.
“That he was allowed to be abused, intimidated and have his personal space invaded is disgraceful and shocking,” the group said. “He must have feared for his safety. By contrast two of the mosque elders were recently invited to the Jewish Community of Manchester Bury South Hustings and treated with nothing but courtesy and respect.”
Saunders’ opponent for the British parliamentary seat in Bury South, Labour lawmaker Christian Wakeford, wished the rabbi his best. “Despite political disagreements, Rabbi Saunders and I have always had an excellent relationship and I hope he is OK following this incident.”
Recently, Manchester has evolved into somewhat of a hub for antisemitic and anti-Israel activity following the Hamas terrorist attacks of Oct. 7.
Earlier this year, two Israeli survivors of the Oct. 7 atrocities were detained and subjected to discrimination while being processed at Manchester Airport. According to the JRC, the two individuals, who were traveling to the UK to discuss narrowly escaping the Hamas onslaught, were singled out upon presenting their Israeli passports and explaining why they were there. British Border Force officers allegedly forced the Israelis to submit to two hours of “detention and interrogation,” as well as abusive comments.
More recently, a world map on the wall of Manchester’s Airport was removed by airport authorities after they were notified by the organization UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) that the Jewish state was crossed out and instead labeled “Palestine.”
“While we are very grateful to Manchester Airport for its swift action, we are concerned that people are unable to walk past a map that mentions ‘ISRAEL’ without deleting its name,” ULKFI said of the incident. “This shows an extremely worrying attitude to the world’s only Jewish state.”
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