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Outraged House Democrats feud amongst themselves over move to condemn anti-Semitism after Rep. Ilhan Omar's tweets
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Outraged House Democrats feud amongst themselves over move to condemn anti-Semitism after Rep. Ilhan Omar's tweets

Some Democrats claimed she was being unfairly targeted by members of their party

Democratic members of the House of Representatives feuded amongst themselves, the Washington Post revealed, over a proposed resolution that would condemn anti-Semitism in the wake of tweets by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) that were widely viewed, including by members of her own party, as being anti-Semitic.

Some members of the party broke with leadership and strongly objected to the leadership's move to push the resolution, accusing party leaders of unfairly targeting Omar, according to the Post.

The vote on this resolution has been delayed until at least Thursday, Fox News reported.

What tweets?

In a 2012 tweet, Omar said, "Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel."

In a tweet from February, she said that congressional support for Israel all came down to money, tweeting, "It's all about the Benjamins baby." This was an apparent reference to the common anti-Semitic trope that Jews somehow manipulate world events through vast wealth.

Later in February, while speaking at an event she accused pro-Israel lawmakers of "allegiance to a foreign country." She also said that she was "fearful" that her Jewish colleagues were accusing her of anti-Semitism simply because she is a Muslim.

After the February tweet, a number of House Democrats, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (Calif), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (Md.), Majority Whip James Clyburn (S.C.), Assistant Speaker Ben Ray Luján (N.M.), Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), and Democratic Caucus Vice Chair Katherine Clark (Mass.) released a statement calling out Omar's "anti-Semitic tropes" and "prejudicial accusations" as "deeply offensive."

What happened now?

The resolution was delayed Wednesday, after being reworded to include a condemnation of anti-Muslim bias as well. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus accused Democratic leaders of joining with Republicans to unfairly target Omar. Some argued that Republican members were getting away with not having resolutions passed about things that they had said.

"I think there's a big rise in anti-Semitism and racism, and that's a bigger conversation we need to be having," Rep. Cedric L. Richmond (D-La.) told the Post. "But it starts at 1600 Pennsylvania. It doesn't start with one member out of 435 members of Congress."

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.) called the resolution "redundant and unnecessary."

But other Democrats thought that the resolution should be passed. Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) said he disagreed with what Omar said and believed "there should be an apology," according to The Hill.

Hoyer said that, despite the delay, the resolution was still being discussed but might not come up for a vote this week.

"The sentiment is that it ought to be broad-based. What we're against is hate, prejudice, bigotry, white supremacy, Islamophobia, and anti-Semitism," he told Politico on Tuesday.

In January, the House passed a similar motion denouncing white nationalism and white supremacy after comments made by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa).

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