6 NEWS Controversy of the week
Trump and Netanyahu: Why they banned Omar and Tlaib
There are few “traditions of decorum that President
Trump has not trampled on since entering the White
House,” said The New York Times in an editorial, but
last week’s “foul” stunt was “new territory even for him.”
Democratic congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida
Tlaib, both critics of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians,
were due to visit the occupied West Bank on a
trip approved by the Israeli government. Then
Trump weighed in via Twitter: “It would show
great weakness if Israel allowed Rep. Omar and
Rep. Tlaib to visit. They hate Israel & all Jewish
people.” Within hours, Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu rescinded the pair’s visas,
earning swift condemnation from Democrats
and some Republican supporters of Israel. Even AIPAC, the con-
servative, pro-Israel lobbying group, said that “every member
of Congress should be able to visit and experience our demo-
cratic ally Israel firsthand.” Too late, said Bari Weiss, also in the
Times. For the sake of pandering to each leader’s far-right base,
Netanyahu and Trump have made U.S. support for Israel, long a
rare point of national consensus, “a partisan wedge in American
politics.” Israel’s interests just suffered “long-term damage.”
Sorry, said David Harsanyi in TheFederalist.com, but Omar and
Tlaib “aren’t mere ‘critics’ of Israel.” They support the Boycott,
Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, whose goal is “ral-
lying the world to destroy the Jewish state economically.” Worse,
their planned trip was sponsored by Miftah, a radical group that
celebrates suicide bombers and which as recently as 2013 was
publicizing the ancient “blood libel” that Jews murder Christian
children and use their blood for baking matzos. By what “prin-
ciple of democracy” should Israel issue visas to “anti-Semitic terror
apologists” who deny its right to exist and seek its total destruc-
tion? That would be like inviting “an arsonist to measure
your home,” said Ari Hoffman in Forward.com, “to deter-
mine just how much lighter fluid he would need to burn it
to the ground.”But Trump and Netanyahu just did more to mainstream BDS
“than Omar and Tlaib’s trip ever could,” said Eric
Levitz in NYMag.com. Until last week, the move-
ment got little attention in this country; now young
liberal Democrats in particular are learning to asso-
ciate BDS with anti-Trump sentiment. Netanyahu
has made a crucial error, said Dana Milbank in
The Washington Post. As the U.S. electorate
gets younger and more diverse every day, pro-
Israel Republicans are “disproportionately old, white evangelical
Christians” whose influence will shrink when Trump leaves office.
Netanyahu has “hitched Israel’s future to a fading constituency.”Netanyahu’s desperate, said Thomas Friedman in The New York
Times. Facing indictment on corruption charges, his only hope of
avoiding prosecution is to win next month’s election and turn Israel
into a “Jewish banana republic” where it’s illegal to prosecute
the prime minister. To pull this off, he needs to build a coalition
of far-right political groups that openly demonize Muslims. With
slumping poll numbers, Trump’s desperate, too, said Bess Lewis in
VanityFair.com. That’s why he retweeted a right-wing conspiracy
theorist’s claim this week that Israelis love him “like he’s the King
of Israel” and “the second coming of God.” Even more stupidly,
Trump complained that when the majority of Jewish Americans
vote for Democrats, it “shows either a total lack of knowledge
or great disloyalty.” In dredging up the anti-Semitic “dual loy-
alty” trope, Trump has proven that he’s no better than Omar and
Tlaib—and that his support for Israel is entirely transactional.Only in America
QSome U.S. churches are
arming and training their
congregations to fight back
against an active shooter.
Fellowship of the Parks church
in Fort Worth encourages off-
duty police officers to attend
services fully armed and has
recently hired the company
Sheepdog Defense Group to
train congregants in active-
shooter defense. “Ten years
ago, this industry was not a
thing,” said SDG founder David
Riggall. “I mean, ‘sanctuary’
means a safe place.”
QMichigan State Univer-
sity is advising employees to
avoid saying “no problem” to
customers. In a presentation
called “Inclusive and Culturally
Sensitive Service,” an MSU
official said that “no problem”
is a “trigger’’ that could lead “a
customer to believe that they
could be a problem.” It’s more
“calming,” the official said, to
say “You’re welcome.”FEC chair challenges
voter fraud claims
The chairwoman of the
Federal Election Commis-
sion fired back at President
Trump’s claims at a New
Hampshire rally last week
that he lost the state in 2016
because of voter fraud,
charging that the asser-
tion was “damaging to our
democracy.” In a letter to
the White House this week,
Ellen Weintraub, a Democrat,
challenged Trump to provide
proof. “There comes a time,”
Weintraub wrote in the let-
ter, “when you need to lay
your cards on the table or
fold.” Trump has repeatedly
asserted that fraud cost him
the popular vote. However,
a commission led by former
Kansas governor and im-
migration hard-liner Kris
Kobach to investigate claims
of widespread electoral fraud
was disbanded without turn-
ing up any evidence.Deodorant,after a federal energy-saving program recommended
that people with air-conditioning keep their thermostat set at
78 degrees and raise it at night to 82 or higher.
Keeping your distance,with a new survey showing that
45 percent of Americans admit to having worn the same pair of
underwear for two consecutive days or more, with 13 percent
going more than a week. Men are more prone to this behavior.
Thrill seekers,with the opening in Tokyo of “the world’s first
tapioca theme park.” Visitors to Tapioca Land can enjoy a wide
range of “bubble teas,” distinctively filled with tiny spheres of the
sweet starch, while reclining in ball pits filled with larger spheres.The art of the deal,after a miffed President Trump punished
Denmark for its disinterest in his offer to take Greenland off
its hands (see Talking Points) by “postponing” his scheduled
September trip to the Scandinavian country.
Added protein,after a Wisconsin family discovered a live frog
inside a box of organic salad greens. “I’m thinking, ‘One: How
the heck did that get in there?’” said purchaser Karlie Allen. “‘And
two: That is absolutely disgusting.’”
Latter-day Saints,with an official church clarification that the
ban on smoking includes vaping and e-cigarettes, and that the
prohibition against drinking coffee extends to iced coffee and, with
very few exceptions, “anything ending in -ccino.”Good week for:
Bad week for:
NewscomTlaib: Backs the BDS movement