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COMMENTARY: Omar Faces Rightwing Backlash as She Forces Uncomfortable Conversations About Israel, Palestine

NNPA NEWSWIRE — “Trump, the New York Post and Fox News, each owned by media magnate and Trump friend Rupert Murdoch, and the Republican National Committee’s Ronna Romney McDonald, have led the way in the criticism, smears and deceptive coverage and which has triggered pushback and calls to cease this dangerous behavior from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris, Women’s March creators Linda Sarsour and Tamika Mallory and a range of other women and activists, including Rashad Robinson of Color of Change, journalist and activist Shaun King and others.”

Published

7 years ago

April 17, 2019

Oakland Post

By Barrington M. Salmon, NNPA Newswire Contributor
@bsalmondc

For the last several months, freshman Congresswoman IIhan Omar (D-MN) has weathered sustained attacks from Republicans, Fox News and other conservative elements because she has the temerity to question the intimate, decades-long relationship between the United States and Israel.

In addition to an avalanche of intense criticism, smears and lies from Republican and conservative critics, Omar has had to deal with death threats from people identified as being supporters of President Donald Trump and others opposed to the fact that a Muslim woman is in Congress.

The threats have gotten so intense, that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered an increased security presence around the Minnesota representative, who to her credit, isn’t backing down from the campaign of hate launched by Trump, Congressional Republicans and rightwing media outlets.

“I did not run for Congress to be silent,” Omar said on Twitter following a tweet from Trump showing a video of Omar and images of the twin towers ablaze on 9/11 after an Al Qaeda attack in 2001. “No one person – no matter how corrupt, inept, or vicious – can threaten my unwavering love for America. I stand undeterred to continue fighting for equal opportunity in our pursuit of happiness for all Americans.”

Trump, the New York Post and Fox News, each owned by media magnate and Trump friend Rupert Murdoch, and the Republican National Committee’s Ronna Romney McDonald, have led the way in the criticism, smears and deceptive coverage and which has triggered pushback and calls to cease this dangerous behavior from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris, Women’s March creators Linda Sarsour and Tamika Mallory and a range of other women and activists, including Rashad Robinson of Color of Change, journalist and activist Shaun King and others.

Tlaib, one of Omar’s staunchest defenders, called on Democrats last week to speak up in support of her colleague. And they have.

Enough is enough, she said.

“Taking it out of context, this is just a pure racist act by many of those — hateful acts by those — because she does speak the truth,” Tlaib told MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson. “I’m really outraged because as a person who has gotten direct death threats myself, I know that her life is put in more danger.”

“The fact that these people are irresponsibly taking those words out of context and endangering the life of Rep. Omar is immoral, it is wrong, and it needs to be called out by many my colleagues not just myself. They need to stop targeting her this way, it is absolutely putting her life in danger.”

Ocasio Cortez and Prof. Ibram X. Kendy said the same.

“Members of Congress have a duty to respond to the President’s explicit attack today. @IihanMN’s life is in danger. For our colleagues to be silent is to be complicit in the outright, dangerous targeting of a member of Congress. We must speak out,” she said.

American University Prof. Dr. Ibram X. Kendy also offered his public support.

“It goes without saying that #IstandWithIIhanOmar. And anyone who doesn’t not stand with @IIhanOmar stands with Islamophobia, with racism, with politicians deploying lies to inflame religious and racial terror in the country. There is no middle ground in this struggle,” said Dr. Kendy, Director of AU’s Antiracist Research & Policy Center, a National Book Award winner and author of ‘Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America.”

Since she was sworn into Congress in January, the freshman legislator has spoken of, and tweeted about the crisis that has engulfed Israel and the Occupied Territories. Few in her position have been so openly critical about Israel’s decades-long clashes with Hamas, the deaths of primarily unarmed Palestinians at the hands of Israeli forces and a variety of actions that international organizations like the United Nations have deemed violations of international law and breaches of human rights conventions and laws.

The Muslim-American lawmaker has also taken on the pro-Israel lobby, particularly the American Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) which spends more than $100 million lobbying Congress and enjoys widespread bipartisan support.

At a town hall at Busboys and Poets in downtown DC almost two months ago, Rep. Omar, one of the two first Muslim women ever elected to Congress, spoke about AIPAC’s influence on Congress.

“…. For me, I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is ok for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country,” she told the audience. “And I want to ask, why is it ok for me to talk about the influence of the NRA, of fossil fuel industries, or Big Pharma, and not talk about a powerful lobby that is influencing policy?”

The backlash has been sustained and fierce.

Israeli- American activist and writer Miko Peled said Omar is being targeted specifically because she’s chosen to give voice to her deep misgivings about America’s unequivocal political and economic support of Israel despite the government’s 52-year occupation, the Israeli government’s illegal settlement activity, its appropriation of Palestinian land and of shooting unarmed civilians with live rounds.

Much of the anger, criticism and condemnation towards Omar stems from fear and race, said Peled, member of a revered Zionist family, whose grandfather was one of the original signers of the Declaration of Israel’s independence and son of general who fought in the 1948 and 1967 wars.

“American political institutions are made up of White men who are not used to Black women,” he said during a telephone call from Palestine. “It’s racism. In their mind, she’s supposed to be subservient but she’s calling them out and calling out AIPAC. She has courage and is eloquent and they don’t know what to do with her.”

What has been lost in the furor is the fact that Rep. Omar and her colleague Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who is Palestinian-American, are raising these questions because they want what they call an honest debate around these issues. That isn’t happening because at the moment, it is often drowned out by the furor of her critics, which is by design, Omar and other critics say.

“But it’s almost as if every single time we say something, regardless of what it is we say, that it’s supposed to be about foreign policy or engagement, that our advocacy about ending oppression, or the freeing of every human life and wanting dignity, we get to be labeled in something, and that’s the end of the discussion, because we end up defending that, and nobody gets to have the broader debate of, ‘What is happening with Palestine?’” Omar told the Busboys and Poets gathering.

But Pro-Palestinian activist Ariel Gold said Rep. Omar has opened the door to more public debate and shaken up the status quo in a way that likely cannot be reversed.

“I think this is a watershed moment. I saw it coming in an interesting way,” said Ms. Gold, national co-director of Code Pink, a women-led grassroots organization working to end U.S. wars and militarism and supporting peace and human rights initiatives. “We’ve seen a dramatic shift in Congress and American Jewish opinion, especially young Jews. They are more outspoken against the occupation and Reps. Tlaib and Omar are now in Congress.”

This changing sentiment has scared pro-Israel supporters, she said, hence their resentment of, and fury towards, Omar.

“Defenders of Israel and the status quo became more incensed,” said Gold, a Jewish-American, who in 2018 was denied entry into Israel to study because of her work in the US and Israel in support of the Palestinian cause. “These supporters were looking for the weakest link and saw a Black, Muslim woman. They thought this was shaky ground. They felt this was the time to go after her, not just Marco Rubio, Engel, Deutsch, but to ensure that Democrats would tow the party line. This shift is an aberration. You had a number of different pieces coming together. Let’s just say they got their asses handed to them.”

Peled and a number of political analysts and experts agree with Gold that Omar’s comments and her willingness to question the actions of the Jewish state as well as AIPAC’s enormous influence on members of Congress may change the way people deal with Israel.

“She has set the bar so high and opens the door to a whole new level in the next two years, if we stand with them and not allow them to be pushed back,” said Peled, a fierce and vocal critic of Zionists, the Netanyahu government and those who support the oppressive state. “There are a whole lot of them (congress people) who’ll move if they’ve not the first one. Historically, we’re standing at a really important intersection. We might be at that tipping point.”

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of BlackPressUSA.com or the National Newspaper Publishers Association.

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Poll Shows Support for Policies That Help Families Afford Child Care

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — New national polling shows persistent voter concern about the affordability and availability of child care for working parents, alongside broad support across key demographic groups for federal child care policies that help families afford care.

Published

1 week ago

March 2, 2026

Oakland Post

By First Five Years Fund

New national polling shows persistent voter concern about the affordability and availability of child care for working parents, alongside broad support across key demographic groups for federal child care policies that help families afford care.

The national survey was conducted by UpOne Insight on behalf of the First Five Years Fund from January 13–18, 2026.

Key findings include:

• Parents need help: 80% of voters say the ability of working parents to find and afford child care is either in a state of crisis or a major problem.

• This is an affordability issue: 82% believe federal child care funding will help lower costs for working families — including 69% of Republicans, 84% of Independents, and 94% of Democrats.

• And there continues to be strong support (62%) for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), a federal program that makes it possible for hundreds of thousands of families to afford safe, quality care for their children while parents work or go to school, including a majority of Republicans, 63% of Independents and 72% of Democrats.

• Support for funding child care programs remains strong: 75% believe child care funding should be increased or kept at current levels — including 75% of Republicans, 85% of Independents, and 97% of Democrats.

• 74% say funding for child care is an important and good use of tax dollars, including a majority of Republicans, three-quarters of Independents, and nine in ten Democrats.

FFYF Executive Director Sarah Rittling said, “Voters across the country are sending a clear message: federal child care and early learning programs work. These investments help parents stay in the workforce, strengthen families, and support healthy child development. They have also long had strong bipartisan support in Congress. At a time when affordability is top of mind for families, continued federal funding is essential to ensure child care remains accessible and within reach.”

First Five Years Fund works to protect, prioritize, and build bipartisan support for quality child care and early learning programs at the federal level. Reliable, affordable, and high-quality early learning and child care can be transformative, not only enhancing a child’s prospects for a brighter future but also bolstering working parents and fostering economic stability nationwide.

We work with Congress and the Administration to identify federal solutions that work for families with young children, as well as states and communities. We work with policymakers to identify ways to increase access to affordable, high-quality child care and early learning programs for children. And we collaborate with advocacy groups to help align best practices with the best possible policies. http://www.ffyf.org

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Trump’s MAGA Allies are Creating Executive Order Plan to Steal the 2026 Midterms

NNPA NEWSWIRE — The document that could lead to an executive order proposes using the claim that China interfered with the 2020 elections as grounds to “declare a national emergency.” The move would be an unprecedented step that would grant Trump new authority over the voting systems in the U.S.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 27, 2026

Oakland Post

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Correspondent

A group of MAGA pro-Trump activists, who say they are working in coordination with the White House, are circulating a 17-page draft executive order that would claim without evidence that China interfered with the 2020 presidential election. Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential to President Joe Biden by over 7 million votes. Since Trump lost to Biden in 2020, he has repeatedly claimed that the election was “stolen” without evidence. The report of a group of “Trump allies” preparing an executive order to give Trump power over elections was first reported by The Washington Post.

The lies around the right-wing campaign that pushed falsehoods that the 2020 election was stolen was trafficked through right-wing media, particularly Fox News. Fox News was then sued for defamation for the claims by Dominion Voting Systems. Fox lost the case and had to settle for the largest defamation amount on record of $787.5 million in April 2023.

The document that could lead to an executive order proposes using the claim that China interfered with the 2020 elections as grounds to “declare a national emergency.” The move would be an unprecedented step that would grant Trump new authority over the voting systems in the U.S.

The story in The Washington Post arrives as Trump increasingly signals that he may take actions that would alter the result of the 2026 midterms. The Republicans are widely expected to lose as their approval ratings plummet as a result of a failing economy under Trump. Over 50 members of Congress have announced they will retire this year and not return in 2027.

The Trump Department of Justice, which now has a large image of Trump on the side of it, “sued five new states Thursday [Feb. 26, 2026] demanding access to their unredacted voter rolls — escalating a campaign that has been rejected by multiple federal courts and faces resistance from Republican-led states as well,” according to Democracy Docket, a group that works to protect voting rights.

Trump claimed back in late 2020, the last year of his first term, that he had the authority to issue an executive order related to mail-in voting for the 2020 elections — which he would then lose. But the Constitution states that control of elections lies with the states. As the GOP works to place hurdles in front of voting, Democrats worked to make voting easier.

In March 2021, President Biden signed an executive order calling on federal agencies to expand voting access as part of the Biden Administration’s effort “to promote and defend the right to vote for all Americans who are legally entitled to participate in elections.”

Trump’s focus is clearly on altering the November 2026 midterm elections. Trump’s polling numbers and the elections and special elections that have taken place around the U.S. over the last year clearly indicate that Republicans are about to be hit by a blue wave of Democratic victories.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent investigative journalist and the founder of Black Virginia News. She is a political analyst who appears on #RolandMartinUnfiltered and hosts the show LAUREN LIVE on YouTube @LaurenVictoriaBurke. She can be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke

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PRESS ROOM: NBA Hall of Fame Nominee Terry Cummings Joins 100 Black Men of DeKalb County to Launch Victory & Values Initiative

NNPA NEWSWIRE — NBA Hall of Fame nominee and Basketball Legend Terry Cummings was administered the official member’s oath and ceremonially pinned during a special induction ceremony held on Friday, February 20th.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 27, 2026

admin

Cummings becomes an honorary member, joining other role model sports stars

NBA Hall of Fame nominee and Basketball Legend Terry Cummings has officially become an honorary member of the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County, marking a powerful new chapter for the 100 Black Men and youth development across the region.

Cummings was administered the official member’s oath and ceremonially pinned during a special induction ceremony held on Friday, February 20th. The moment signified more than membership — it marked the launch of the organization’s transformative new platform, the Victory & Values Initiative.

The Victory & Values Initiative is a groundbreaking youth development program designed to empower elementary and middle school students through a dynamic blend of sports, mentorship, and STEM exposure. The initiative focuses on building health, discipline, character, leadership, and access to opportunity — creating pathways for long-term academic and personal success.

“This is about more than sports,” said Cummings during the ceremony. “It’s about using the platform of athletics to teach life lessons, create access, and build the next generation of leaders.”

The induction ceremony also featured notable guests including NASCAR’s newest Star Driver, Lavar Scott and NASCAR Director of Athletic Performance, Phil Horton, who joined Cummings for a powerful Victory & Values Town Hall discussion. The Town Hall was moderated by renowned Sports Emcee John Hollins and focused on leadership, resilience, discipline, and the importance of mentorship in shaping young lives.

A “Day at NASCAR” for 75+ Youth

Cummings wasted no time getting to work. On his first full day as an honorary member, he joined his new brothers of the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County to host a “Day at NASCAR,” escorting more than 75 youth to a once-in-a-lifetime experience at EchoPark Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway).

The youth participants received behind-the-scenes access including: an exclusive tour of Pit Row, access to the Garage Area and exploration of the interactive Fan Zone.

The experience culminated with a surprise meet-and-greet and Q&A session with NASCAR Superstar Bubba Wallace, who shared insights on perseverance, preparation, and breaking barriers in professional sports.

The day served as a living example of the ‘Victory & Values’ Initiative in action — exposing youth to new industries, expanding their vision for the future, and connecting them directly with high- level mentors and role models.

Building Leaders Through Access and Mentorship

The 100 Black Men of DeKalb County – a chapter of the largest, national mentoring organization in the county – continues to expand its footprint with programs focused on academic excellence, economic empowerment, leadership development, and health & wellness.

The launch of ‘Victory & Values’ represents a strategic expansion of the organization’s impact

intentionally integrating athletics and STEM to engage youth at an early age while reinforcing core principles such as integrity, accountability, teamwork, and perseverance.

“Our mission has always been to mentor the next generation,” said Vaughn Irons, President-Elect of the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County. “With Terry Cummings joining the brotherhood, along with partners in NASCAR and professional sports, we are creating unprecedented access and exposure for our youth. Victory & Values is about turning inspiration into structured opportunity.”

By connecting elementary and middle school students to professional athletes, executives, STEM professionals, and community leaders, the initiative aims to:

Increase youth exposure to careers in sports business, engineering, and performance science
Strengthen mentorship pipelines
Promote physical wellness and mental resilience
Build character-driven leadership at an early age

Open Invitation to Youth and Families

All youth are invited to participate in the Victory & Values Initiative, along with the other countless, impactful programs offered by the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County.

Parents and guardians seeking mentorship, leadership development, academic enrichment, and transformative exposure opportunities for their children are encouraged to connect with the organization.

As NBA Legend Terry Cummings’ induction demonstrates, Victory & Values is more than a program — it is a movement designed to build champions in life, not just in sports.

For more information about the Victory & Values Initiative or to enroll a student, contact: 100 Black Men of DeKalb County at Phone at 404.241.1338, info@100bmod.org or Tee Foxx at 404.791.6525,