By Dov Winter

The level of hypocrisy in regard to the support of Zionism by the Democrats and the Republicans is reaching a new height. Representative Ilhan Omar told the simple truth on Twitter that American support for Israel is fueled by money from a pro-Israel lobbying group that has Jewish backing.

The response for these remarks is hysteria by the Republicans and the Democrats, who accuse Omar for promoting Anti-Semitism with these remarks. Once again the capitalist media cynically confuses anti-Zionism with Anti-Semitism. It is ABC that every capitalist politician in the US is bought by money.

But Zionist money is holy in the US. Any criticism that the Zionists buy American politicians is now “anti-Semitic”. This is, of course, laughable. Every capitalist politician is just a commodity who is bought by his/her capitalist masters. But when it comes to Zionism it supposed to be different. You cannot criticize holy money.

The US gives Israel billions of Dollars every year to crush any Arab resistance to US imperialism, and in particular to crush any Palestinian resistance in the occupied territories, which Trump wants to be formally part of Israel. So, when Israel massacres Palestinians in Gaza, for example, the massacre is backed by the US.

The American capitalist press is just a little shy from suggesting that strong criticism of Zionism could become a crime. The Republicans leaders demanded that Omar be removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. What next? Remove her from Congress all together?

The truth is quite simple. Marxism can easily explain the extraordinary connection between the US and Zionism. Israel is American imperialism’s boots in the Middle East. American imperialism needs the Arab masses, and the Palestinians in particular, to remain oppressed, because any massive Palestinian intifada could trigger a massive anti-imperialist struggle in the Middle East. Syria could explode further, and the pro-imperialists rulers in the Middle-East could be deposed; which means a total instability in one of the key areas for US imperialism in semi-colonies. This is what American imperialism wants to avoid. And Israel is willing to throw a lot of money at the Democrats and Republicans in Congress to make sure that Israel connection with the important politicians of the Republicans and the Democrats remain strong.

Open Letter: We are Jews Who Stand with Representative Ilhan Omar

We are Jews who stand with Representative Ilhan Omar. She has been falsely accused of anti-Semitism since tweeting that GOP threats against her and Representative Rashida Tlaib for criticizing Israel were “all about the Benjamins baby.” When asked to clarify who is paying members of Congress “to be pro-Israel,” Omar replied, “AIPAC!”

As Jews with a long tradition of social justice and anti-racism, AIPAC does not represent us.

There is absolutely nothing anti-Semitic about calling out the noxious role of AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee), which spends millions each year to buy U.S. political support for Israeli aggression and militarism against the Palestinian people. As the NYC chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace summed up:

Accurately describing how the Israel lobby works in this country is not anti-Semitic. The never-ending smear campaign against Ilhan Omar is racism and Islamophobia in action.”

There is no denying that money rules U.S. politics, and that powerful lobbies from the NRA to the fossil fuel lobby to AIPAC play destructive, anti-democratic roles in our political system, wielding money for legislative influence. The pro-Israel lobby has played an outsized role in producing nearly unanimous congressional support for Israel. It has organized a national campaign to suppress Palestinian activism on campuses, made the Israel Anti-Boycott Act a legislative priority, and for decades has boasted about their power to make or break political careers. To point out this reality is not anti-Semitic.

Genuine anti-Semitism and the growth of white supremacy are indeed growing concerns in Donald Trump’s America. Omar and Tlaib, the first two Muslim congresswomen in this country’s history, are not part of this ugly growth of white supremacy. Instead, they are part of movements which seek to confront it. For that, and for their courageous support of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, they are being smeared by a racist and Islamophobic chorus, including the House Democratic leadership itself.

Signed by 1,240 Jews in the US and Canada.

Signed,