Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Back to Opinion

Letter | Why Ilhan Omar’s Opposition To Sanctions Against Turkey Makes Sense

Dear Editor,

Daniella Greenbaum Davis bases her article “Ilhan Omar Just Came Out Against Sanctions. So Why Does She Support BDS?” on two incorrect assumptions, erecting a polemic on quicksand.

Rep. Omar’s opposition to sanctions on Turkey might be due to Trump’s erratic nature of sanctioning. As we have seen with so many prior examples, there is little evidence that he knows what he is doing (eg, raising tariffs, etc). She still might support sanctions by someone of greater sanity, or under different geopolitical situations.

Secondly, The S in BDS does not refer only to governments. Sports associations sanction, academic organizations sanction, etc. One could be against governments sanctioning and still in favor of other forms of sanctions.

The author, however, seems too ready to jump to the conclusion that Rep Omar is anti-Semitic and to beat the drum loudly marching in that parade. For this Jew, it just isn’t proven.

Sincerely,

Philip L. Bereano

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.