The good thing about American democracy is that it has continuously been evolving. First, it made Barack Obama to the White House. Now, in the age of Trump, people like Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib have made it to Congress. However, the sad thing about American democracy is that it does not allow anyone to be critical of Israel. Ilhan Omar wants to challenge the unrelenting support for Israel’s illegal existence and its apartheid policies directed against innocent Palestinians by both the Democrats and Republicans alike.

The time we are living in is simultaneously strange, extreme and exciting. It is odd to note that how an environment in the United States is under constant construction to equate criticism of Israeli state with anti-Semitism. With Ilhan’s comment that Israel’s supporters are pushing US lawmakers to take a pledge of “allegiance to a foreign country”, the older Democrats have gone bananas over her remarks. And now the Democrats moving a resolution that is aimed at condemning anti Semitism is directly targeting Congresswoman Ilhan Omar for her speaking out on political influence on American politics by interest groups and funding concerning Israel. That is not anti Semitism as constructed by Pelosi and other leading Democrats.

For if we accept the Democrats logic, then any criticism of any Muslim state will mean perpetuating Islamophobia. But no one in his or her right mind will accept this logic. If criticism of a state cannot be equated with hate-speech against a particular people then why is Israel exception?

Before anything else, it is of utmost importance to say that the latest smear on Ilhan demonstrates the extent to which she is facing bias and in some cases deliberate distortions of her words. The most recent remarks of Ilhan that have divided the Democrats do not contain a single word that can be termed as hate-comment against Jews.

What is essential to keep in mind is that by bringing up anti-Semitism debate, the Democrats are trying to slide the real issue that is American Policies in the Middle East (ME) under the carpet and use discussion about anti-Semitism as a smokescreen of avoiding real problems that are actually on the table about the occupation and treatment of Palestinians.. If the Democrats members are concerned about hate-speech and racism, they should start a discussion over President’s intolerance and racism. While summarising the whole debate in a few words, it is not wrong to say that the victimisation of Ilhan speaks volumes about the hypocrisy of the older generation of the Democrats.