When Omar didn't vote to recognize the Armenian genocide, her rationale was that "accountability & recognition of genocide should not be used as a cudgel in a political fight," but should be "based on academic consensus outside the push & pull of geopolitics." Diff standard here. https://twitter.com/IlhanMN/status/1362136748621463552

This isn't a direct comment on what China is or isn't doing in Xinjiang. But it's important to recognize the shifting standards American politicians apply to such rhetoric, & that even people like Ilhan aren't consistent or fully principled on this front.

I've gotten several replies of this type, but they're all weak IMO. They ignore Omar's own stated criteria, but that aside, what criteria would make it ok not to acknowledge the Armenian genocide that wouldn't also apply to condemning what you think is happening in Xinjiang?

Separately, the idea that the Armenian genocide is just some 100 year old event is false. It's part of a history that some are actively trying to erase while extending its injustice to the living, immediate descendants of its victims who were killed or forced to flee their lands.

And several of the people calling the Armenian genocide a 100 y.o. event by a dead empire are generic SJW types otherwise, who still think slavery & European colonialism, some of which is much older than the Armenian genocide, is relevant. Can't have it both ways.