Ilhan Omar strikes back at the “Islamphobia” of fellow Democrats | US and Canadian News

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U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar hit back after her Democratic colleagues rarely condemned her remarks. Her remarks seemed to classify the U.S. and Israel with the Palestinian resistance group Hamas and the Afghan armed group Taliban. .

The Muslim American congresswoman wrote on Twitter on Monday: “We have seen the unimaginable atrocities committed by the United States, Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan and the Taliban”, which aroused condemnation from both parties and even saw her. Accused of being “anti-Semitism.”

“We must hold the same degree of accountability and justice to all victims of crimes against humanity,” she wrote on Twitter, and attached a video of her questioning Secretary of State Antony Blinken about the United States Oppose the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into the so-called war. Crimes of Israel and Afghanistan.

More than a dozen Jewish lawmakers called on Omar on Wednesday to “clarify what she said,” believing that “equating the United States and Israel with Hamas and the Taliban is an offense and misleading.”

Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi interjected: “Drawing wrong equivalence between democratic countries such as the United States and Israel and groups engaged in terrorism such as Hamas and the Taliban will incite prejudice and undermine the realization of peace and security for all. Future progress,” Pelosi said in a statement.

But Omar fought back, attacking the Jewish legislators’ comments as “shameful” and “Islamophobic.”

“The Islamophobic metaphor in their statement is offensive. The continued harassment and silence from the signatories of this letter is unbearable,” the Minnesota representative wrote on Twitter.

“For those colleagues who call me when they need my support, it is shameful to issue a statement now asking for “clarification” instead of calling directly.

Omar’s spokesperson, Jeremy Slevin, said in a statement statement On Thursday, the group of lawmakers “has the same Islamophobic hatred against her,” just as they initially attacked Omar’s far-right enemy through her tweets.

Slavin said earlier that Omar contacted the organization to provide clarification before their statement was released, but her call was not answered.

As criticism intensified, Omar clarified her position in a statement on Thursday: “On Monday, I asked Secretary of State Anthony Brinken about the ongoing ICC investigation.

“To be clear: the conversation is about responsibility for specific events in those ICC cases, not a moral comparison between Hamas and the Taliban, and the United States and Israel.

“I will never equate a terrorist organization with a democratic country with a sound judicial system,” she added.

Omar also shared threatening voicemails received in her office. She said in a tweet: “Every time I speak up for human rights, I am overwhelmed by death threats.”

Extensive support

Despite criticisms of Omar, many lawmakers still defended her.

U.S. representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is one of the progressive legislators criticizing U.S. policy toward Israel. She claimed that Omar continued to target and slander.

The New York Democrat said on Twitter: “I am very tired of the constant defamation, deliberate mischaracterization and public attacks from @IlhanMN from our core team.”

“They didn’t know that they put her at risk by skipping private conversations and jumping to cheer for targeted news cycles around her.”

Representative Rashida Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat, also defended her, criticizing the House Democratic leader’s statement, saying in a tweet: “There is no freedom of speech for Muslim women in Congress. For Congress. For Muslim women in China, the benefit of skepticism does not exist. Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives should be ashamed of their ruthless, exclusive tone of supervision of women members of color.”

Rep. Ayanna Pressley condemned “malicious attempts” to take Omar’s words out of context, while Rep. Jamaal Bowman urged fellow Democrats to “recognize the prejudices that promote personal attacks and defend our colleagues.”

“When a woman, a person of color or a Muslim publicly opposes injustice, there will be strong opposition,” Bowman wrote on Twitter. “When [Omar] Speaking out, she is these three people, which is even more ironic. “

The Progressive Democrats continued to express support for Omar throughout the day on Thursday. The Congressional Progressive Caucus issued a statement stating that Omar’s “voice is critical and necessary.”

“We cannot ignore a right-wing media echo chamber, which deliberately and frequently attacked a black Muslim woman in Congress, distorted her views and intentions, and led to opposition [her] And her employees,” the statement said. “We urge our colleagues not to instigate or magnify this divisive and malicious strategy. “

At the same time, Democratic leaders said they “welcome Omar’s clarification” that “there is no moral reciprocity between the United States and Israel, Hamas and the Taliban.”

This is not the first time Omar’s criticism of Israel has caused her to disagree with members of her party. In 2019, she apologized after members of both parties accused her of suggesting that money supports Israel as “anti-Semitism.”

Israel has waged an 11-day war on the besieged Gaza Strip, resulting in the deaths of more than 250 Palestinians, including 66 children. A few weeks after reaching a fragile peace agreement, there has been recent commotion in the US Congress. At least 12 people, including two children, were killed in Israel in a rocket attack by Palestinian armed factions.



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