This week, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) introduced House Resolution 496 in support of the controversial and notorious Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement (BDS), a Palestinian-led movement which seeks to pressure the Israeli-state through international boycotts until it agrees to terms the group finds favorable.
The resolution, which states “that all Americans have the right to participate in boycotts in pursuit of civil and human rights,” goes on to imply boycotting Israel is in the same moral vein as boycotting legitimate genocidal dictatorships, stating: “Americans of conscience have a proud history of participating in boycotts to advocate for human rights abroad including ... boycotting Nazi Germany from March 1933 to October 1941 in response to the dehumanization of the Jewish people in the lead-up to the Holocaust.”
For those wondering how this exactly connects to the BDS Movement, the Jerusalem Post reported that Omar, in an interview on the resolution with Al-Monitor, said:
We are introducing a resolution… to really speak about the American values that support and believe in our ability to exercise our first amendment rights in regard to boycotting… It is an opportunity for us to explain why it is we support a nonviolent movement, which is the BDS movement.
What is particularly interesting about this new saga is, this isn’t the first time Rep. Omar has spoken on the BDS Movement. In a video posted to Twitter by the anonymous account Reagan Battalion yesterday, Omar, while running for her seat, can be heard saying she doesn’t support BDS.
“I think the particular purpose for [BDS] is to make sure that there is a pressure and I think that pressure really is counteractive,” Omar says in the video. “In order for us to have a process of getting to a two-state solution, people have to be willing to come to the table and have a conversation about how that’s gonna be possible, and I think that’s not the dialogue.”
Breaking: Antisemite @IlhanMN to introduce pro BDS resolution in Congress.
— The Reagan Battalion (@ReaganBattalion) July 17, 2019
Here is the video of @IlhanMN promising Jewish voters in her district back when she ran for Congress that she WILL NOT support BDS because it creates more hate and is counterproductive to peace. pic.twitter.com/0nFC2Q3Ur5
It seems as if anyone, even members of "The Squad," would say anything to get elected.
(Cover Photo: Flickr / Mpacnational)