
The terror groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired over 700 rockets into Israeli homes and communities this weekend.
So who did the two most fiercely anti-Israel members of Congress blame?
Israel, of course.
The barrage killed four Israeli civilians and injured 234. This was a devastating attack. Rocket shrapnel hit the oncology wing of an Israeli hospital. Another missile landed in an empty kindergarten facility.
But the blame for all this carnage goes to Israel, say Dem. Rep. Ilhan Omar and Dem. Rep. Rashida Tlaib—harsh critics of Israel and the first two Muslim women in Congress.
Omar actually defends Hamas!
Instead of blaming the terror groups, which committed war crimes by attacking innocent Israelis, Omar defended them and cast Israel as the guilty party.
“How many more protesters must be shot, rockets must be fired, and little kids must be killed until the endless cycle of violence ends?” Omar tweeted. “The status quo of occupation and humanitarian crisis in Gaza is unsustainable.”
Occupation? That is astonishingly ignorant–especially from a member of Congress who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Israel evacuated from Gaza in 2005–14 years ago. There is no Israeli “occupation” of Gaza. This woman is clueless.
And the blame for the humanitarian crisis engulfing the Gaza strip is entirely owned by Hamas.
Its harsh rule and failed policies have been ruinous. Youth unemployment is reportedly 70 percent in Gaza. But Hamas keeps its militants busy digging terror tunnels, as well as flying arson kites and explosive balloons into Israel.
Tlaib condemns Israel . . . and the New York Times!
But instead of condemning Hamas, Omar’s good friend, Rashida Tlaib, likewise puts the blame on Israel. Tlaib, a freshman lawmaker who celebrated her election wrapped in a Palestinian flag, took offense at this factual New York Times headline: “Gaza Militants Fire 250 Rockets and Israel Responds With Airstrikes.”
For Tlaib, the Times headline “feeds into the continued lack of responsibility on Israel who unjustly oppress & target Palestinian children and families.”
In Tlaib’s twisted thinking, the fault lies with Israel and shame on the New York Times for not saying so.
There’s just one word for this: Anti-Semitism. Faulting the Jewish state when it is struck by volley after volley of lethal rocket fire–all while holding the perpetrators, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, free from all blame–is textbook anti-Semitism.
Focus on the Middle East
This month we focus on significant Middle East current events in preparation for our upcoming class on June 11, 2019
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