Nancy Pelosi Must Remove Ilhan Omar From The House Foreign Affairs Committee

Yesterday, I wrote about Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar's assertion last week that American Jews have a "foreign allegiance" to Israel.

Omar doubled down on that position in an exchange with fellow Democratic Congresswoman Nita Lowey. The longtime New York Congresswoman tweeted, "Lawmakers must be able to debate w/o prejudice or bigotry. I am saddened that Rep. Omar continues to mischaracterize support for Israel. I urge her to retract this statement and engage in further dialogue with the Jewish community on why these comments are so hurtful."

But instead of properly reflecting on Lowey's comments, Omar continued to reiterate the "foreign allegiance" trope:

Our democracy is built on debate, Congresswoman! I should not be expected to have allegiance/pledge support to a foreign country in order to serve my country in Congress or serve on committee. The people of the 5th elected me to serve their interest. I am sure we agree on that!

However, Lowey held firm:

No member of Congress is asked to swear allegiance to another country. Throughout history, Jews have been accused of dual loyalty, leading to discrimination and violence, which is why these accusations are so hurtful.

Lowey isn't the only Democratic member of Congress who has taken Omar to task for her words. Eliot Engel, also from New York and the Chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee - a body on which Omar currently serves, also weighed in even more blunt terms characterized her remarks as "a vile anti-Semitic slur".

The time has come for Nancy Pelosi to remove Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

This might be difficult given that Pelosi is looking so chummy with Omar on the cover of the latest issue of Rolling Stone.

But Pelosi is going to have to decide if the Democratic Party can tolerate anti-Semitism within its ranks. If Pelosi decides that she can't then she must act now. If not then Pelosi can expect the Democratic Party to turn into the anti-Semitic cesspool which is now plaguing Britain's Labour Party.

I fear that Pelosi might just have her apologize again. Another apology from Omar is insufficient. Omar is an anti-Semite and isn't going to change no matter how many apologies she issues. I also fear that while Pelosi might genuinely disagree with Omar's views that she might view Omar as a future player in the Democratic Party while viewing the 81-year old Lowey and the 72-year old Engel as relics who will soon be expendable.

In which case pressure must be brought to bear on Pelosi to do the right thing and once again take a stand against anti-Semitism.