Republicans Define Americans to be 10% of the Nation
House Republicans voted to remove Omar because she’s a dark-skinned Muslim, and a naturalized citizen who survived civil war and refugee camps in Somalia as a child. On the House Floor, she eloquently argued that House Republicans are now trying to dictate, “Who gets to be an American,” and whose ideas are sufficiently “American” to be protected and promoted.
Yet again, both Republican and Democratic party leaders are attacking Rep. Ilhan Omar for telling the truth about American and Israeli war crimes. And yet again, Omar has nothing to apologize for.
On Monday, Omar posted on Twitter her exchange with Secretary of State Antony Blinken. There she raised what should be a fairly tame question: What mechanisms exist to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity in Palestine and Afghanistan?
The United States government opposes the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) jurisdiction to hear alleged cases of human rights abuses by both Israel and Hamas, the United States and the Taliban. If domestic courts won’t investigate war crimes, and if the United States opposes the ICC’s ability to do so, where can victims of war crimes go for justice?
How Trumpsters roll (ODT)
Later, at a rally in North Carolina, Mr Trump accused the Somalia-born congresswoman specifically of being soft on terrorism.
“Omar laughed that Americans speak of al-Qaeda in a menacing tone,” he said. “You don’t say America with this intensity. You say al-Qaeda makes you proud. Al-Qaeda makes you proud. You don’t speak that way about America,” he added, referring to her remarks in a 2013 interview.
As he spoke about Ms Omar, he drew a chant from the crowd of “Send her back! Send her back!”
He later backtracked, claiming he disagreed with the chant and tried to stop it.
Ms Omar responded on Twitter, with a quote from civil rights activist Maya Angelou: “You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I’ll rise.”
via Donald Trump: Ilhan Omar slammed over ‘white men’ Al Jazeera footage
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A Gallup poll has found that for the first time in many years, 50% of Americans favor the establishment of a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank.
I’m not sure what the other 50% think the Palestinians should do. Just stay stateless and without the rights of citizenship? You do understand that they live under foreign military occupation, right? That in the West Bank if they have a dispute, they have to go to an Israeli court; that Israeli squatters can come in and steal their property and water at will; that if you don’t have citizenship in a state, it is sort of like being in jail permanently.
What is remarkable is that the public has swung toward a Palestinian state even though it is not the project of the current president. Earlier high points in this position were reached when Bush and Obama, respectively, were trying to achieve a peace accord.
via The Ilhan Omar Effect? 50% of Americans now favor a Palestinian State (Gallup)
olddogthoughts 