The National Council of Young Israel (NCYI) on Wednesday called on Democratic congressional leaders to strip Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib of their committee assignments in light of their support of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
As Republican congressional leaders assess how to handle Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene who has promoted outrageous conspiracy theories, including some that are anti-Semitic, and House Democrats plan to hold a vote this week to remove Rep. Greene from congressional committees, the NCYI maintained that now is an opportune time to deal with the anti-Semitic positions of Reps. Omar and Tlaib, which is something the organization has called for in the past.
The NCYI noted that the international working definition of anti-Semitism, which was adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) in 2016 and is utilized by the US State Department and being embraced by the Biden administration, includes various anti-Israel activities, such as those employed by BDS activists in their quest to delegitimize the state of Israel.
“When it comes to anti-Semitism among its members, Congress must equitably employ a zero-tolerance policy, regardless of whether it comes from the right or the left of the political spectrum,” said NCYI President Farley Weiss. “
The unabashed support for the anti-Semitic BDS movement by Reps. Omar and Tlaib and their endless promotion of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiments is appalling and dangerous. BDS is a movement that delegitimizes Israel and whose objective is Israel’s destruction, and there must be consequences when Members of Congress proudly champion such a blatantly anti-Semitic effort.”
“As House Democrats move to strip Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of her committee assignments due to her shocking conspiracy theories, they should also remove Reps. Omar and Tlaib from all congressional committees due to their active and outspoken support for an anti-SSemitic movement that poses a true threat to the American Jewish community,” Weiss continued, noting that GOP leaders stripped former Rep. Steve King of his committee assignments in 2019 after he made troubling comments defending white supremacists.
“At a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise in the United States and around the world and acts of violence against Jews are becoming far too prevalent, congressional leaders cannot remain silent while lawmakers repeatedly and relentlessly promote prejudiced propaganda. The racism and anti-Semitism exhibited by Reps. Omar and Tlaib is indefensible, and it is imperative that House Democratic leaders demonstrate that there is no tolerance within the Democratic Party for anti-Semitism by immediately removing them from their assigned committees.”
Omar is notorious for her past controversial statements on Israel. She came under fire in 2019 after she suggested on Twitter that Republicans were attacking her at the behest of the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC.
She subsequently issued a half-hearted apology before ultimately deleting the controversial tweets.
Last September, Omar called Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's "existence" a problem in an interview with CBS.
Tlaib is also known for anti-Israel statements. She claimed in an interview in 2019 that Palestinian Arabs living in the British Mandate prior to the establishment of the State of Israel “provided” a safe haven to Jews after the Holocaust.
In addition, when asked in a past television interview whether she would vote against military aid to Israel when she goes to Congress, Tlaib replied, “Absolutely.”
Most recently she accused Israel of racism due to its failure to offer to distribute coronavirus vaccines to Palestinian Arabs, even though Israel is not obligated to do so.
In 2019, Israel announced it would bar entry to Tlaib and Omar over their support for BDS.