By:
Posted: May 6, 2019
Category: NATIONAL HEADLINES
Tags: ,
Comments: 0

Ilhan Omar's Tweet About Gaza Rockets Draws Heat: 'How Many Times' Will She 'Rush to the Defense of Terrorists?'







Over the weekend, more than 600 rockets were fired from Hamas-controlled Gaza into civilian neighborhoods and areas in Israel. Israel responded, firing on the positions from which the attacks were launched. The escalated violence continued until a temporary cease-fire agreement early Monday.

The dramatic increase of violence in the always-present conflict prompted commentary from all quarters, from the President and National Security Advisor, to members of the House and Senate, and on through journalists, columnists, experts, and every day social media users.

Among those replies, perhaps the most tone deaf was from, Rep. Ilhan Omar, who is opposed to Israel politically, supports the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement, and has come under fire multiple times for anti-Semitism in just the short few months she’s been a freshman congresswoman.

Omar tweeted a rhetorical question, and a condemnation of Israel over their being attacked by Hamas, and it didn’t go well for her.

“How many more protesters must be shot, rockets must be fired, and little kids must be killed until the endless cycle of violence ends?” she wrote. “The status quo of occupation and humanitarian crisis in Gaza is unsustainable. Only real justice can bring about security and lasting peace.”

The fact that she asked how many “rockets must be fired” caught the attention of a lot of people, and at last review the tweet had about 13,000 replies and just over 9,000 retweets. In the quote-retweet game, she came up pilloried, mostly from those on the right side of the aisle. Including, notably, Rep. Liz Cheney, who in response to Omar’s open question posed her own: “How many times will @IlhanMN rush to the defense of terrorists?”

But Cheney was not, by a long shot, the only one. Here’s a sample.

Adam Rubinestein, of the Wall Street Journal and formerly of The Weekly Standard.

T. Becket Adams of The Washington Examiner and formnerly of S.E. Cupp Unfiltered.

Former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer.


Author, speaker, and editor of The Daily Wire Ben Shapiro, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show” podcast.

There were many, many more.







There were also hundreds, both by reply and retweet, who focused on the meaning of “real justice” in Omar’s tweet. Example:

Here are more.

Katie Pavlich of Townhall and Fox News responded to both Omar and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who made her own controversial comment on Twitter and elicited a similar response.

Conservative Twitter favorite Ben McDonald offered a comparison with both tweets.


It’s worth pointing out that the substance of a critique, or even a sentiment, matters. It’s not an on/off position, as HuffPost and New York Magazine contributor Yashar Ali explained.


That is pertinent because there is a false choice presented by some who argued back against criticism of Omar’s positions and tweet. Tablet Magazine’s Yair Rosenberg spelled it out.

Omar has not responded to the controversy in a Tweet, although she did offer an “oh my” regarding Trump insider Katrina Pierson posting a video of rockets being fired that were incorrectly identified as being among the hundreds of rockets that were fired by Hamas yesterday.

Pierson’s wrong tweet did not, it should be noted as a matter of the facts, somehow make it suddenly the case that Hamas and Iran-proxy Islamic Jihad didn’t actually launch any attacks. They did. That just wasn’t video of it.

If Omar responds to the controversy, Mediaite will have an update.

In the meantime, for a rather different take from a Democrat on the Hill, take a look at this tweet from Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema.

[Featured photo via Mark Wilson/Getty Images]

—

Follow Caleb Howe (@CalebHowe) on Twitter

Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com




via Mediaite http://bit.ly/2VN4LC0

Hey, like this? Why not share it with a buddy?

Related Posts