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No Response From Rep. Ilhan Omar: Some Constituents Say Jews Spread COVID

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4 years ago

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Some of the people in Rep. Ilhan Omar’s district believe some of the most antisemitic conspiracy theories about the coronavirus, revealed in a new video by journalist Ami Horowitz this week.

This reporter requested a comment from Rep. Omar’s office but didn’t receive one. Additionally, her office phone numbers in both Washington D.C. and Minneapolis either immediately disconnected or didn’t have a voicemail box set up.

The video starts with one question directed to Omar’s Muslim constituents, “Do you believe that Jews created the coronavirus to target Muslims?”

That question, and others on the same line, got shocking responses of unequivocally “yes.”

“Depopulization, especially in the Muslim community,” one man said, adding “Definitely, Israel could’ve had a hand in it.” That same man said he believes that the Jews, Russia, and/or China ‘worked with each other’ and are responsible for spreading the virus.

Another said, “They want to destroy Muslims! That’s what I think… They’re trying to torture all types of Muslims.”

“They want to rule the world, all that stuff,” one man explained.

Each person interviewed believed that Jews were taking advantage of the financial markets amid the COVID financial downturn. “If everything’s cheap now, you can buy all the lands! They probably want to buy all the Muslim lands so they can control Muslims!” one young man said.

Video here:

The truth is these antisemitic tropes have existed for centuries and throughout some of the most devastating diseases of our time. That includes the Black Death in Europe that occurred in 1348.

As scholar Catherine M. Porter points out in her writing on the subject, there was an overarching lack of medical reasoning that would explain where the virus spreads, why certain symptoms occur, and how to mitigate the spread of the virus.

Now, we know that people living in medieval times didn’t practice proper hygiene and there wasn’t the proper sewage infrastructure in place, causing rats and flees to rule the streets.

Many Christians at the time, however, blamed the virus on the Jews.

“While the Catholic Church did not condone the persecution of the Jews, many Christians at the time still thought the European Jewry was responsible,” wrote Porter. “There was no concrete or logical reason behind the blame except hundreds of years of prejudice and persecution.”

“During the plague of 1348, a rumor was started that led to more persecution. Even today, this myth is still synonymous with the bubonic plague. A rumor was started that Jews were secretly poisoning water sources and that was the cause of all of Christianity’s pain and suffering,” she stated in her article.

That same trope is certainly making its way into Rep. Omar’s district, but whether she will speak out against it remains to be seen.

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EXCLUSIVE: Former Trump appointee explains an ‘America First Strategy’ in the ME

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7 months ago

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May 15, 2024

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Photo: Israeli Government

The author interviewed Ellie Cohanim, one of the authors of the new book: “An America First Approach to US National Security.” Ellie is the former U.S. Deputy Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism under the Trump administration. She is currently a Senior Fellow with the Independent Women’s Forum focusing on Iran, Israel, and global antisemitism, and is a national security contributor for the Christian Broadcasting Network. In 2021, Ellie launched and hosted for Jewish News Syndicate 30 plus episodes of the show “Global Perspectives with Ellie Cohanim.” Ellie spent 15 years in media and NGO management before serving in the public sector. How would you define an “America First” strategy in the Middle East?

Cohanim: An America First strategy in the Middle East would seek to advance American national security interests in that region, while maintaining our status as THE global superpower. To do that, the US would ensure that our principal allies in the region, countries like Saudi Arabia and Israel, are economically and militarily strong, and that our adversaries in the region are deterred.

Postal: How has the United States’ standing in the Middle East differed between the Trump and Biden administrations?

Cohanim: Under President Trump, for four years we had peace, stability and prosperity in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region. Under President Biden, in just three tumultuous years there has been war in the region, which holds the potential for becoming a regional conflict and even a nuclear confrontation. Meanwhile, the US’ status in the region and the world has diminished due to Biden’s disastrous mishandling of the Afghanistan withdrawal, his emboldening of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and his weak response to Iranian attacks on our personnel and assets in the region. 

 

Postal: Do you think the United States and Israel are/were in a stronger position to deter Iran’s nuclear and territorial ambitions in Biden or Trump’s administration?

Cohanim: America’s position of strength has not changed under either administration vis-à-vis the Islamic Republic of Iran. What has changed is our Iran policy. Under President Trump’s administration, the US contained and constrained Tehran. Trump applied a “Maximum Pressure” sanctions campaign which left the Iranian Regime with only $4 billion in accessible foreign currency reserves by the end of his term, giving the Iranians less cash and less ability to fund their terror proxies and their nuclear program, and Trump eliminated Qassem Soleimani. While all President Biden needed to do was to continue implementing such successful policies, his administration instead did the exact opposite.  Under the Biden administration, Israel, our leading ally in the region, was attacked for the first time directly from Iranian soil. This was an unprecedented escalatory attack by the Iranian regime, and could only happen under the Biden administration.

Postal: In your chapter of the book, you discuss the weakening of US relations with Israel and Saudi Arabia under the Biden administration. How has the Biden administration affected the likelihood of future normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, and deals between Israel and other Muslim countries (i.e., new Abraham Accords)?

Cohanim: The good news is that the Abraham Accords have withstood the test of multiple Hamas provocations against Israel, and now the current war. Despite numerous claims from the Biden administration regarding “successful” efforts to normalize ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel, I do not think that the Biden administration will be able to clinch such a deal. In the Middle East, people have a long memory. Saudi Arabia’s de-facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has not forgotten President Biden’s snub when he first came into office, and Biden’s incredibly poorly advised behavior towards the Crown Prince when he made his first visit to the Kingdom as president. The last thing the Crown Prince wants is to hand Biden his first foreign policy success with a Rose Garden peace deal ceremony. So, I do not believe President Biden can broker Saudi/Israeli normalization.

However, I am also convinced that it is a matter of “when” and not “if” such a peace deal will happen between those two countries, as it serves both of their interests to make such a deal. The Saudis understand better than anyone that it is the Islamic Republic of Iran that threatens the Kingdom’s security and stability, not Israel.

Postal: What do you think of the Biden administration’s latest statements withholding arms to Israel?

Cohanim: President Biden will go down in history for his abject moral failure in not standing by Israel while she fights a five-front war. Biden has shown his despicable personality for trying to keep his anti-Israel arms embargo concealed until he could first deliver a speech on the Holocaust. Biden’s behavior is despicable on so many levels.

Ultimately, Biden is betraying the American people. He came into office presenting himself as a “centrist Democrat,” but has proven repeatedly to be beholden to the radical, extremist, pro-Hamas wing of his party.

Postal: How does the Biden administration’s support of a Palestinian state differ from the Trump administration’s support of a Palestinian state under its Peace to Prosperity framework?

Cohanim: The Biden administration stated that they will “unilaterally recognize” a Palestinian state. What the borders of that state are and who would lead it, nobody knows. 

The Trump administration’s “Peace to Prosperity” was a detailed plan that was premised on the realities on the ground in Israel. The plan required that the Palestinians reach benchmarks proving a real desire to live in peace with their Israeli neighbors. It included over $50 billion in investment in the region, which would have been a road to prosperity for all. Perhaps most significantly, the Palestinian state envisioned under the Trump plan would have been demilitarized, the wisdom of which could not be more clear following the October 7 massacre and attack.

The author would like to thank Ellie Cohanim for participating in this interview.

 

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