The Ilhan Omar anti-Semitism controversy, explained

 https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/3/6/18251639/ilhan-omar-israel-anti-semitism-jews

 It’s true that Omar’s comments on Israel keep falling into well-worn anti-Semitic tropes — and her defenders often prove too willing to paper this over and dismiss criticism from even progressive Jews as “smears.”

It’s also the case that Republican officials frequently call on anti-Semitic tropes and say worse about other minority groups without nearly so much bipartisan condemnation. Pushing for a House vote on anti-Semitism really did feel like unfairly singling out Omar — and whitewashing the GOP’s record in the process. That’s why progressives rallied to Omar’s defense, and why the Democratic leadership has been forced to reconsider its initial resolution.

 Omar deleted the original tweet and said she “unequivocally” apologized. And for a few weeks, that seemed to settle the matter. But then, at the panel with Tlaib last Wednesday, Omar tried to address her anti-Semitism problem again. And that’s when things went south.

 “At the event last week, Rep. Omar reiterated the remorse she feels for her comments last month—and the pain she knows they caused. As she said in her apology, we must distinguish between criticism of a particular faith and fair critiques of lobbying groups,” Slevin said. “She has consistently spoken out about the undue influence of lobbying groups for foreign interests of all kinds and her comments were about just that. To suggest otherwise is an inaccurate reading of her remarks.”