I realize that if I wait until I am no longer afraid to act,
write, speak, be, I'll be sending messages on a Ouija board,
cryptic complaints from the other side.
Audre Lorde
On March 7th I took a break from my work with
refugees and asylum seekers to go down to Chula Vista with fellow activists to
denounce Representative Juan Vargas’ tweets against Ilhan Omar but also criticizing
Israel.
Tweet
1: Israel has and remains a stalwart ally of the United States
because of our countries shared interests and values.
I condemn her remarks and believe she should
apologize for her offensive comments.
Tweet 2: It is disturbing that Rep.
Omar continues to perpetrate hurtful
anti-Semitic stereotypes, that misrepresent our Jewish community.
Additionally, questioning the support for US Israel relationship is unacceptable.
anti-Semitic stereotypes, that misrepresent our Jewish community.
Additionally, questioning the support for US Israel relationship is unacceptable.
The email about the Press Conference came early in the
morning, forwarded from a Jewish Voice for Peace activist, to another friend
who has deep interest in Palestinian rights. As a former mission co- worker who
has lived in Palestine and seen up close what Israel is doing to the
Palestinian people, I felt a moral duty to show up.
It occurred to me that it might be good idea to have some kind of
statement. As an outsider to San Diego and to Vargas’ district, I felt what I
wanted to say had to address the anti-Semitic part of his comments and the
charge that we cannot question the US Israel relationship. I searched high and
low for a statement from my church, the UCC, and found nothing. I then found
Churches for Middle East Peace statement and thought. Yes, but its way too long
so I chose the paragraph about how Congress should include Islamophobia and racism.
I particularly liked their bringing forward the concept of weaponizing
anti-Semitism.
As Congress considers a resolution condemning
anti-Semitism, CMEP calls on leadership not only to repudiate all forms of bigotry,
but to be clear in differentiating between actual hate speech and critiques of
policy. While we affirm the desire to denounce anti-Semitism, Congress cannot
speak with integrity on this issue if it does not also make clear its opposition
to Islamophobia and racism as well. If Congress fails to distinguish between anti-Semitism
and valid critiques of the government of Israel, they are playing into the
hands of those forces who wish to weaponize anti-Semitism. Doing so harms
everyone by suppressing free speech and undermining open debate about a major
U.S. foreign policy issue; and by singling out, as in recent instances, people
of color and vulnerable populations while remaining silent when privileged
others express clearly bigoted sentiments.
Full statement: https://cmep.salsalabs.org/3719publicstatement?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=2a24984e-6eb4-4ba2-b1fe-626531524248
I put on my uniform, my clerical collar, my black skirt and shirt, and my
blue embroidered Palestinian jacket that a shop keeper saved for me because he
said it had crosses on it and I should have it. When I arrived, there were just
a handful of Muslim and Jewish activists. Then my friend Rebecca showed up in
her collar and T-shirt saying I Stand with Palestine. We stood around waiting
for the press to show up and took pictures of ourselves with our homemade signs.
The Muslim American Society came with a podium and a microphone. The press
conference went on without the press. Each speaker was so eloquent. Some spoke
about the attacks as a form of Islamophobia, others directed themselves to the
Tweets themselves and the implications of Vargas trying to silence debate about
US and Israel’s special relationship.
As I listened to the moving speeches, I felt my prepackaged
statement didn’t quite hit all the notes I wanted, and I would have to
trust the Holy Spirit to let me embroidery before and after the statement. I
realized standing there on a street corner in Chula Vista that I had finally found my people
in San Diego and that we were all vulnerable or under threat for just being there. I also
realized as a person who has been called an anti-Semite for my Lenten
Reflections of all things, and almost asked not to speak at an Interfaith
Gathering because a Jewish Zionist member of the Coalition read about my attack
and wanted to use it as an excuse for why I shouldn’t come, that I was the perfect person to
speak. Furthermore, I know what it feels like to get a death threat for
speaking out.
Gatherings like this are what interfaith work looks
like on the ground. I was proud to represent not just my church but The Church,
to add our voice to the mix calling out Vargas to recant or rescind his
statement. Here is a copy of the statement
from the Muslim American Society of San Diego responding to the Vargas’
disturbing comments:
The Muslim American Society- San Diego
chapter is deeply disturbed by recent comments made by Congressman Juan Vargas
in stating that “Questioning support for the U.S.-Israeli relationship is
unacceptable.” To assert this
notion that our support for a foreign country is above reproach is unacceptable
in and of itself and sets a dangerous precedent. No nation-state should ever be
above criticism and no nation-state should
ever receive blind unquestioning support from members of Congress.
Representative
Ilhan Omar has been consistent in her critiques of the impact of special
interest groups in Washington, whether those interests represent Israel or
Saudi Arabia. The Congressman’s comments comes at
a time that Representative Omar is facing blatant Islamophobic, anti-black
racist attacks and threats to her life. These constant attacks and framing of
any Muslim’s critique of U.S-Israeli relationship or special interest groups such as AIPAC as anti-Semitic
is a decades’ old Islamophobic stereotype itself. Americans, including Muslim
Americans, should be able to criticize American policies towards Israel and
hold elected officials accountable on
how American taxpayers’ money is spent domestically and abroad.
“Representative
Vargas’ comment is an attempt to silence political commentary and a much- needed
debate on U.S.-Israeli relations,” said MAS San Diego President Tareq Purmul.” This
censorship is counter to our democratic values of freedom of political
expression.”
MAS
condemns these comments by the Congressman in light of the upcoming resolution
that will be put forth by House Democratic leaders, originally intended to
rebuke and reprimand Representative Omar. We
call on our representatives to produce a resolution that condemns
anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and religious bigotry and hate of all kinds.
After the speeches, members of the community went into the
office and delivered this statement and spoke in front of the lone camera crew
that showed up. As of Friday evening, Vargas has not rescinded his statement or
apologized to his constituents. The House voted on a more detailed resolution
about anti-Semitism, bigotry, White Nationalism, and racism and blurred the lines
linking the critique of Israel to anti-Semitism but the ghost is still there in
comments like Vargas' and thus, I think we all should be prepared to speak out when the next attack comes.
Here is the link to the facebook page where you can hear
some of the speeches including mine: Press Conference Re Resolution Against Rep
Ilhan Omar
All of us, including us who identify as faith leaders, have
a role in this ongoing conversation about what is or isn't racist or anti-Semitic. I challenge or invite my colleagues to
develop their own statements of belief so when the next time comes, we can stand
clearly on the side of justice.
The following is from a blog post from Ayman Refaat, a new
friend and Muslim chaplain:
Although Semites
are people of the Middle East including the Hebrews (Jews) and Arabs, Why the
term “Antisemitism” is used in the United States to refer to prejudice against
Jews only? Should the term be “Anti Jews” or “Anti Hebrews”? Why does the term
“Antisemitism” not include prejudice against Arab? Is that because the American
society does not realize yet the prejudice against Arab? So do we need a new
term such as “Anti- Arab” or “Anti Islam”? Is Islamophobia not Anti Islam? How
can the American media call some Arabs “Antisemitism” although they are
Semites?
Although Semites
is a race, why the term “Antisemitism” is used in the United States to refer to
prejudice against the followers of the Judaism religion? Why do Americans think
the race of Hebrews and the religion of Judaism are the same?
But the biggest
problem now is that the term “Antisemitism” is used to refer to any criticizes
to the Israel politics. So, Semites is not the race, and even not the religion,
but the state of Israel. So, as American you have the freedom of express to
criticize the politics of your government and state, but you do not have the
right to criticize the politics of Israel. I thought that America supports
Israel, but actually it seems the opposite; It seems as if Israel controls the United States.
It is unacceptable that we allow ourselves to not make the distinction
between nation states and people, and accept that we must give up our First Amendment
rights. It is unacceptable to remain silent.
Resources
House passes resolution condemning anti-Semitism and
anti-Muslim discrimination
US: Orthodox Jews show solidarity with Omar
The Ilhan Omar controversy shows how little we care about
Palestinian lives
Demonizing Ilhan Omar: Why the entire political
establishment wants to crush one woman
Ilhan Omar Has a Less Bigoted Position on Israel Than Almost
All of Her Colleagues
This is excellent, Loren. Thank you for sharing it.
ReplyDelete