(VOA) The California synagogue shooting that left one dead Saturday has revived a simmering debate over U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar’s comments about the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and U.S. lawmakers’ relationship with lobbyists for Israel.
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and conservative commentator Meghan McCain suggested Sunday that Omar’s recent comments are part of rising anti-Semitism on the left and that all sides of the U.S. political spectrum have contributed to an extremist dialogue that targets Jews.
Omar — the first Somali-American member of Congress — pushed back against those claims, retweeting a post by journalist Peter Beinart on Sunday saying: “Islamophobia and anti-Semitism are two sides of the same coin. Let us stand together as Americans in rejecting hate.”
