Virginia Democratic Candidate Apologizes to Jewish Community for Past Statements – Tablet Magazine
https://t.co/8o8kMzWaWg
Coming so closely on the heels of Omar’s controversial statements, and following similar support for radical anti-Israel measures by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.)—for whom Samirah served as a campaign official charged with getting out the vote—Samirah’s candidacy is further evidence of a fundamental sea change in Democratic party politics. “In one generation,” said Kyle Shideler, a scholar with the Middle East Forum think tank, “positions once viewed as radical—literally held up only by groups the U.S. government says were affiliated with Hamas—have now became mainstream and are presented totally without apology.”
This strikes to the heart of the issue. It should be concerning that just about every Islamic candidate that has been elected to Congress has ties to radicalism/anti-Semitism in varying degrees. Remember Keith Ellison's ties to the Nation of Islam and his defense of Farrakhan? Or his comparison of the 9/11 attacks to the Reichstag fire?
For a party that loves to talk about how much Republicans legitimize the far right, there is a disturbing trend in which radicals are being given a platform of influence in the Democratic Party. And while I don't think being Muslim should disqualify someone for running for Congress (freedom of religion 'n at), isn't it a little odd that so many Muslims that are being put into Congress have been so
unabashedly extreme?
So now you're insinuating they are Muslim extremists bent on jihad?
That's obviously a joke, but it's the kind of knee jerk you might get when questioning they're position. The Democratic Party sees themselves as an all welcoming, big tent party. The problem with being the big tent, is that you can get afraid of pissing people off, so you treat everyone with a D next to their name with kid gloves, for fear of being seen as alienating that section of the population. It allows a lot of individuals to hold a really looney position on an issue and not have to face consequences for it, for fear that you be deemed to be insulting their race, religion, gender, etc. I will admit for instance that while I wasn't a fan of Farrakhan before it wasn't until discourse here that I was exposed to full breadth of his rhetoric and how many politicians still accompanied the same circles as him.
Having said that, I think Shideler's comment is pretty far off base, that the Democratic party is suddenly a bunch of anti-semitics siding with Hamas. I think it's pretty far flung to say they're making up the platform of the party as well. There's obviously a position that a two-state solution would save lives, and that Israel hasn't done themselves any favors building settlements and continuing to provoke a response. It was either NP or Freddy who made the comment that it's still a whole lot better to be a minority in Israel than in to be the minority in any other Middle Eastern country, which is absolutely true. It's fine to tell them their actions need to better, and still acknowledge that they're breaking agreements and poking the kid beside them in class and feeling outraged when they get punched in the face. They shouldn't have been punched in the face, but you knew your actions were done with the intent of getting a reaction.