Black Caucus blasted for turning It's back on Rep. Omar

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"It’s been more than a generation since the Congressional Black Caucus stood up for Black people, or progressive political principles, anywhere.
“The Black Caucus remains silent on the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestine and the creation of a system of apartheid in both Israel and the Occupied Territories.”
An impressive list of Black intellectuals and activists is circulating an open letter to the Congressional Black Caucus, blasting the Black federal lawmakers for failing to mount a “robust defense” of one of their own, Ilhan Omar, the first-term Congresswoman from Minneapolis, who is a Muslim. Pro-Israel lawmakers had demanded that Omar be roundly rebuked for her critique of the power wielded on Capitol Hill by AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby. What finally emerged was a Resolution that condemned anti-Semitism, as well as Islamophobia and all other forms of racial, religious and ethnic hatred. Congresswoman Omar wasn’t named in the resolution, but was clearly the target. The signatories to the Open Letter say the Black Caucus has been passive in the face of pro-Israel power in Congress, and no longer lives up to its slogan as the “Conscience of the Congress.”
The letter comes on the heels of a rally on the Washington Mall in support of Rep. Omar, organized by the Movement4BlackLives. The assembled Black Women in Defense of Ilhan Omar called on Congress to censure President Donald Trump for anti-Muslim speech in general and for endangering Rep. Omar in particular.
“The Black Caucus has been passive in the face of pro-Israel power in Congress.”
On April 13, the Congressional Black Caucus issued a brief statement, condemning Trump and right wing media for spewing “hate and division” and “putting the life of a member of Congress in danger.” But the signatories to the Open Letter say the Caucus should support Rep. Omar in her critique of AIPAC power over the Congress. “In turning its back on Omar,” said the letter, “the CBC has also turned its back on its own history” of struggle, including the history of Black American support for Palestinians, rooted in the “shared ravages of settler colonialismand racial(ized) discrimination.”
The Black Caucus cannot “claim to be the “Conscience of the Congress…while it remains silent on the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestine and the creation of a system of apartheid in both Israel and the Occupied Territories.” According to the letter: “The CBC’s treatment of Omar is symptomatic of a larger failing on the part of the Caucus to adopt a consistent ethical position on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.” The Open Letter demands that the Black lawmakers visit the Occupied Palestinian Territories on their own to bear witness to the “abuses suffered by the Palestinian people on a daily basis.” The Black Caucus “must create a platform for further debate about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” and the role the United States should play in a resolving it.
“The CBC’s treatment of Omar is symptomatic of a larger failing on the part of the Caucus to adopt a consistent ethical position on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”
The letter writers give the Caucus credit for the days, more than a generation ago, when Black Members of Congress were in the forefront of the struggle against South African apartheid, culminating in passage of sanctions against the white minority regime, in 1986. The Black Caucus had only 20 members back then. There are more than twice as many now, but they are worthless to the struggle for human rights, anywhere. Every single member of the Black Caucus voted for a Resolution in support of Israel even as the world’s sole remaining apartheid state was slaughtering over 2,000 Palestinians in Gaza, in 2014. But there is only silence from the Black Caucus, whose members have also been mute to the slaughter of more than six million Black people in Congo – the worst genocide since World War Two.
No, there is no “conscience,” no sense of social justice, in the Black Caucus, any more. As Rep. Omar said, “It’s all about the Benjamins.” I’m Glen Ford, Black Agenda Report. . . ."

https://www.blackagendareport.com/black-caucus-blasted-turning-its-back-rep-omar-0

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