Ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan. 27, three Republican members of Congress introduced on Wednesday a House resolution condemning anti-Semitic and anti-Israel vitriol in the United States and worldwide.
Reps. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.) and Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), introduced the resolution that calls out both Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan for his extensive record of spewing anti-Jewish rhetoric and Women’s March leader Tamilka Mallory, who refused to condemn Farrakhan, and who attended his annual Saviour’s Day address last year during which the minister labeled Jews as “satanic.”
The resolution also names Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who both support the anti-Israel BDS movement.
Since being sworn in, Tlaib displayed a map in her office with a note posted over Israel that reads “Palestine,” accused Republican lawmakers of dual loyalty and forgetting “what country they represent,” and met with a Palestinian activist who has said that Israel is a “terrorist entity” with a “delusional ISIS-like ideology,” and that its founding was a “crime.”
Omar has tweeted that “Israel has hypnotized the world” and has posted that Israel is an “apartheid” state. She was appointed last week to serve on the influential House Foreign Affairs Committee, which has jurisdiction over bills and investigations related to the foreign affairs of the United States. Her appointment raised alarm bells in the Jewish community.
Furthermore, the resolution denounces BDS, especially on college campuses, such as New York University and the University of Michigan.
Finally, it calls out white supremacy, citing the riots in Charlottesville, Va., which were incited by neo-Nazis in August 2017, in addition to the gunman behind the Oct. 27, 2018 murder of 11 Jewish worshippers at the Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha Synagogue in Pittsburgh.
A spokesperson for Zeldin told Jewish Insider that the New York Republican appealed to Democrats for support but would not give names.
“It can come to the floor without being bipartisan, but the congressman welcomes anyone of any party to co-sponsor the resolution before it is introduced in the House as he reiterated in a ‘Dear Colleague’ letter inviting them to sign on today,” said Katie Vincentz, the congressman’s communications director.
