(CNSNews.com) — House Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who was chastised on Monday by her own Democratic Party leaders for releasing anti-Semitic tweets, in late January promoted a tweet that compared Israel to the segregated U.S. South in 1963 — before the Civil rights Act of 1964 — and claimed that “Israel is not a real democracy.”
“Many of them truly know this, but don’t want to accept it,” said Omar in endorsing the Jan. 31 tweet from left-wing activist @maxberger.
In his initial tweet at 10:22PM on Jan. 31, @maxberger “No More Billionaires 2020” wrote, @IlhanMN is right: Israel is not a real democracy. Israel is like the south before 1963: millions of people under Israeli control are denied the right to vote, speak freely or assemble because of their ethnicity.”
“It’s a democracy for Jews only,” said @maxberger. “That’s not a real democracy.”
Congresswoman Omar promoted that tweet to her 558,000 followers on Twitter 16 minutes later, at 10:38 PM on Jan. 31.
Above the piece she wrote, “Many of them truly know this, but don’t want to accept it. In the same way many Americans knew separate yet equal was immoral but remained silent until brave few were silent no more.”
“They can attack, spin my words and vilify me,” wrote Omar, “but they will not succeed in silencing me!”
According to the U.S. State Department, “Israel is a multiparty parliamentary democracy. Although it has no constitution, the parliament, the unicameral 120-member Knesset, has enacted a series of ‘Basic Laws’ that enumerate fundamental rights. Certain fundamental laws, orders, and regulations legally depend on the existence of a ‘state of emergency,’ which has been in effect since 1948.
“Under the Basic Laws, the Knesset has the power to dissolve the government and mandate elections. The nationwide Knesset elections in 2015, which were considered free and fair, resulted in a coalition government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”
“The law provides citizens the ability to choose their government in free and fair periodic elections held by secret ballot and based on universal and equal suffrage,” said the U.S. State Department. “The Basic Laws prohibit the candidacy of any party or individual that denies the existence of the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people or the democratic character of the state or that incites racism. Otherwise, political parties operated without restriction or interference.”
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