When freshmen Democratic representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib find themselves in yet another controversy involving anti-Semitism and/or support for Islamic extremism and/or support for the annihilation of Israel, what has become their favorite Jewish group springs to action to defend them against any of the aforementioned accusations, or any other issues, whatever they may be.
Over the weeked, Rep. Tlaib, D-Mich., who has already gotten into a heap of controversy over previous anti-Semitic remarks, set off a media firestorm when she falsely claimed that her Palestinian ancestors helped create a “safe haven” for Jews fleeing Nazi persecution.
“There’s always kind of a calming feeling when I think of the tragedy of the Holocaust, that it was my ancestors — Palestinians — who lost their land and some lost their lives, their livelihood, their human dignity, their existence, in many ways, has been wiped out … in the name of trying to create a safe haven for Jews, post-Holocaust,” Tlaib said on a Yahoo! podcast. “And I love the fact that it was my ancestors that provided that in many ways.”
Tlaib misled listeners about the role of her ancestors before and during World War II. In fact, her ancestors sided with the Nazis during World War II and welcomed the Holocaust. Additionally, as Liel Leibovitz explains in Tablet, her ancestors were openly hostile to the idea of Jews living alongside them.
“There were 433 more Holocaust survivors killed by Palestinians and Jordanians violently opposing the creation of a safe haven for Jews in what had historically and spiritually been their homeland,” Leibovitz wrote at Tablet in response to Tlaib’s comments. “To attempt and rewrite their well-documented experiences is to victimize them yet again, an unforgivable and deeply anti-Semitic act.”
In response, both Tlaib and her colleague Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., invoked Bend the Arc: Jewish Action on social media as supposed evidence that Tlaib did not do anything anti-Semitic or improper. Tlaib and Omar retweeted the following tweets from the group, following Rep. Tlaib’s controversial remarks:
Since the pair’s congressional inauguration, Bend the Arc: Jewish Action has been the go-to Jewish organization for the two representatives and their defenders, such as the anti-Semitic Women’s March leader Linda Sarsour.
At first glance, Bend the Arc seems to be a run-of-the-mill liberal Jewish coalition that claims to work on behalf of “progressive American Jews to change policy and build a more just and equal nation.” The group’s website is rife with countless mentions of its Jewishness, with the word “Jew” or “Jewish” written 12 times on its front page. It describes itself as the “Jewish Resistance” to the Trump administration.
But these days, the outfit appears to have dedicated its entire purpose to playing defense for Reps. Omar and Tlaib. A review of the organization’s social media pages shows Bend the Arc has wholly devoted itself to the two extremist congresswoman. The outfit’s entire Twitter feed is dedicated to defending Omar and Tlaib and attempting to pivot the conversation toward attacking President Trump.
Since Monday, Bend the Arc has retweeted or tweeted posts supporting Rep. Tlaib 15 times and Rep. Omar five times.
Here’s a small sample of the themes the group forwards in posts defending the controversial representatives.
Both Rep. Omar and Rep. Tlaib have tokenized this one Jewish group to defend themselves against allegations that they are anti-Semitic. The two have retweeted or tweeted out information about the Jewish group four times since the beginning of May.
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action was created by Alexander Soros (who is currently the group’s chairman of the board), the son of infamous billionaire investor George Soros, an anti-Israel extremist who has largely renounced his Jewish identity. The current government of Israel has described Soros as a man “who continuously undermines Israel’s democratically elected governments.” Soros funds have been used to finance the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) movement that seeks Israel’s total destruction.
When Bend the Arc: Jewish Action was founded in 2015, the Soros-led initiative endorsed former Louis Farrakhan acolyte Keith Ellison as part of its first round of endorsements. Alex Soros then posted a note on Instagram declaring Ellison as “aligned with the values of the majority of Jewish voters as any politician I know.”
“It will focus on issues such as income inequality, marriage equality, social justice and immigration reform,” Politico reported, describing the aims of the newly founded, self-described Jewish movement, adding that it would not discuss foreign policy, a clear indication that it will not take a position on the lone Jewish nation-state of Israel. (For more from the author of “Soros-Backed Jewish Group Plays Defense for Tlaib, Omar” please click HERE)
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