Letter to the editor: In support of Ilhan Omar

As American Jews and members of Ithaca Jewish Voice for Peace, we support and applaud Congresswoman Ilhan Omar for highlighting and condemning the influence of AIPAC (The American Israel Public Affairs Committee) on US-Israeli policy. Knowing our Jewish history, we would never deny the reality of antisemitism’s past horrors and ongoing lurking danger. However, we find nothing antisemitic in Omar’s words. (Antisemitism is, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, “hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group.”)

We believe that in a democracy elected officials have the obligation and responsibility to do what Omar did; that is, speak truth to power. She clearly and publicly opposed both the corrupting and undemocratic influence of money in politics and our country’s complicity with Israel’s illegal settler colonial laws and operations. This is not antisemitism.

We are surprised and greatly disturbed that so many leaders have berated Omar or remained silent while she is being so unfairly criticized. It is time for American politicians to understand that it is not antisemitic to criticize the AIPAC lobby or the immoral and illegal actions of the Israeli government.

Ithaca Jewish Voice for Peace: Mona Sulzman, Deirdre Silverman, Lois Levitan, Beth Harris, Barbara Chasin