PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvaia — What jumped out at me from a New York Times piece on Rashida Tlaib was what the Times omitted – the most essential elements of Tlaib’s scary and offensive tenure in Congress.
The two reporters on the story barely hinted at Tlaib’s pattern of Israel-bashing even before she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 2018.
I took notice of Sunday’s article, headlined “Race Takes Center Stage in Michigan as Tlaib Faces a Challenger,” amid my efforts to find clues about the political fates of Tlaib and Ilhan Omar. In the next three weeks, we should learn if either of them or both will return to the House.
Tlaib will seek renomination in a Democratic primary on Aug. 4, to be followed by Omar’s Democratic primary on Aug. 11. Both are facing strong challengers, but neither Tlaib nor Omar is to be underestimated. Because both their congressional districts are heavily Democratic, the winner of either primary should be a lock in the general election.
However, should Omar survive her primary, the general election could be interesting. It should not surprise anyone if the Republican candidate does unusually well. Her Minneapolis district encompasses a substantial Jewish population, though still a small minority.
The Times article describing Tlaib’s primary race bolster’s Bari Weiss’s accusation that the newspaper deliberately conforms its news coverage and editorial positions to progressive attitudes. In her resignation letter last week as an opinion editor, Weiss wrote, “A new consensus has emerged…that truth isn’t a process of collective discovery, but an orthodoxy already known to an enlightened few whose job is to inform everyone else.
“Stories are chosen and told in a way to satisfy the narrowest of audiences, rather than to allow a curious public to read about the world and then draw their own conclusions,” wrote Weiss, who is Jewish and author of a book on anti-Semitism. “History is one more ephemeral thing molded to fit the needs of a predetermined narratives.”
I have gotten that same feeling over the years and did not want to believe that a mainstream newspaper -especially the Times – would lower itself that way (Prediction: conservative readers will now label me naïve). The treatment of the Times story reporting Weiss’s departure exemplified her concerns. The headline, leaving no hints about her reasons, reads: “An Opinion Editor and Writer at The New York Times Quits.” It sounds like an intro to a routine press release. How about: “Times Opinion Editor Quits, Claiming Bias at Paper.”
The story left out the quotes recited above. Are the headline writer and the reporter afraid of getting fired? Ridiculous if Times editors and reporters fear calling attention to the episode.
Two stories alleging black anti-Semitism during the last two weeks were published far inside the paper – that of Eagles football player DeSean Jackson on the second page of the sports section, and the firing of television star Nick Cannon at the bottom of the last page of the Arts section.
There have been many days that I would catch a brief report on the Jewish Telegraphic Agency website on an important Jewish issue, and expect to find more detailed articles in the Times and other prominent newspapers. Often, nothing appeared in the papers.
Barely nothing about Tlaib’s hostility toward Israel appeared in the Times article on Sunday. The closest the two reporters – note that is two reporters – moved toward that aspect came in this paragraph: “Mr. Trump has seized on the grouping as well, assailing Ms. Tlaib and the other lawmakers as unpatriotic and at one point telling them to ‘go back’ to their countries of origin, although all but Ms. Omar are American-born.
“At Mr. Trump’s urging, Israel blocked Ms. Tlaib from entering the country last summer to visit her grandmother, before relenting,” the story added.
Why would President Trump interfere with Tlaib’s visit to Israel? Why should Israelis care? Do not count on this Times article to explain it.
The Times’ most extensive explanation for her notoriety: “Catapulted to national prominence by a profane call to impeach the president uttered on the day she was sworn in, and insulted with racial tropes by Mr. Trump, Ms. Tlaib has drawn plenty of headlines during her first term.” Tlaib plainly predicted that Trump will be impeached and, given compelling circumstances, he was impeached.
If she made “headlines,” headlines about what? Tlaib, a Michigan native whose family emigrated from Israel’s West Bank, has repeatedly bashed Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians and cited her grandmother’s presence in a town outside Ramallah – under Israeli occupation, of course. What she has yet to explain is how Israel’s “occupation” affects her grandmother.
Tlaib has maintained her support for the anti-Israel “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions” movement and told two Republican senators who sponsored anti-BDS legislation that they “forgot what country they represent.”
The Times also neglects to mention that Jewish donors withheld contributions to her prime rival, Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones, most likely because she is a follower of the notorious anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan. Jones lost to Tlaib in the 2018 primary by 900 votes in a field of six candidates.
In Minneapolis, Antone Melton-Meaux recently received $3.2 million in contributions, mainly from Jewish donors who savor the idea of retiring Omar. She has already established her status as a brazen liar. Before the 2018 general election, she said BDS hinders the peace process. After she was safely elected, she told a teen Muslim magazine that she backs BDS.
Omar was endorsed last week by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a longtime Israel supporter whose backing could inspire progressives to stick with the Democratic ticket in November. Behind the scenes, we can question if Pelosi not only helped Melton-Meaux but also participated in his recruitment as a candidate. Besides being able to boast an impressive resume, Melton-Meaux’s views are thoughtfully presented on his website and he might split the black vote with Omar, a sign of practical politics.
In Tlaib’s case, she is probably far more vulnerable to local politics than the wrath of the Jewish people; The Forward reports that 1,500 Jews live in her district, as most Jews in the region live in a separate congressional district that covers Detroit’s northern suburbs.
The Times story may be sufficient for readers from Detroit, but most of its subscribers live elsewhere and are no doubt concerned about Tlaib’s national and worldly positions, including both Israel and poverty. She has been grouped with Omar and two other House members who push for legislation on domestic issues.
Which could make us wonder: What other relevant ditties are omitted from Times news coverage? Are Times editors serious about maintaining the newspaper’s credibility?
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Bruce S. Ticker is a freelance columnist based in Philadelphia. He may be contacted via bruce.ticker@sdjewishworld.com