Congresswoman-elect Ilhan Omar is not backing down from her anti-Israel comments, saying that she feels it is important to advocate for Palestine “because we know right from wrong.”
Omar has been openly anti-Israel. In May of this year, Alpha News columnist John Gilmore uncovered a 2012 tweet from Omar in which she declared Israel had “hypnotized” the world and prayed Allah would help the world see the “evil doings of Israel.”
Does @maroon5 know that @IlhanMN is a proud Jew hater? cc @thauserkstp @esmemurphy @jburcum @JamieGlazov @HireLearning @webertom1 #dfl pic.twitter.com/d8MN4jLop6
— JohnGilmore (@Shabbosgoy) May 31, 2018
Drawing attention to the apartheid Israeli regime is far from hating Jews. You are a hateful sad man, I pray to Allah you get the help you need and find happiness. https://t.co/SvEXjlxlEN
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) May 31, 2018
Omar responded to Gilmore on Twitter, calling him a “hateful, sad man” and continued her attack on the “Israeli apartheid regime.” In another reply, Omar mocked those who interpreted her tweets as anti-Semitic.
Omar’s 2012 anti-Israel tweets came just days after Palestinian terrorists launched over 150 rockets at Israel. Frank Camp, a reporter for the Daily Wire, detailed the November 10-13, 2012 attacks.
In an interview with ABC News in July, Omar defended her tweets, saying the accusations of anti-Semitism are “rooted in bigotry.”
“These accusations are without merit. They are rooted in bigotry toward a belief about what Muslims are stereotyped to believe,” Omar said.
More recently in an interview published Sunday on Muslim Girl, a blog “dedicated to raising the place of Muslim women in our society,” Omar continued to defend her comments, emphasizing the importance of advocating for Palestine.
“For me, that particular issue really is about making sure that we are people who understand that there is oppression happening, and speak to that as you would for issues that are safe,” Omar told Muslim Girl. “I believe that it doesn’t really matter who you are, and where you live, and who has empowered you; no one has a right ever to transgress on other’s rights.”
Omar claims the region’s power is “extremely lopsided” and the Palestinians need “true advocacy.” Omar avoided addressing claims of anti-Semitism, saying she doesn’t “really pay attention to the stuff people say I am, because what I know is I am a fighter for human rights.”
“The people in my district and the folks that I represent who have ties to that region understand how necessary it is for us to advocate, and not abdicate because it is politically expedient; but advocate because we know right from wrong,” Omar told Muslim Girl.
Omar’s anti-Israel advocacy extends beyond Twitter. In September, Omar was the keynote speaker at an anti-Israel fundraiser focused on providing monetary support for Palestinians on the Gaza Strip. The Dear Gaza dinner focused on raising funds for “urgent medical care” for Palestinians victims of “Israeli oppression.” Omar, as seen above, has also been pictured holding a sign that says “Free Palestine.”
David Steinberg of PJ Media recently noted the overwhelming positive coverage of Omar since her successful run to replace Rep. Keith Ellison in Congress. Less than 24 hours after the polls closed, Steinberg noted a Google News search of “Ilhan Omar” returned 105 articles which covered Omar’s win “positively as a ‘history-making’ symbol.”
Similarly, David Harsanyi, a senior editor at The Federalist, has slammed the media and the Democratic party for failing to call out Omar’s verbal attack on Israel. In an op-ed published in the New York Post, Harsanyi noted it “isn’t inherently anti-Semitic to be critical of Israeli political leadership or policies,” but said it is “grossly disingenuous or incredibly ignorant” to call Israel an “apartheid regime.”
“To accuse the only democratic state in the Middle East, which grants more liberal rights to its Muslim citizens than any Arab nation, of being an “apartheid regime” is, on an intellectual level, grossly disingenuous or incredibly ignorant,” Harsanyi wrote in the New York Post. “And when a politician singles out Jewish allies as “evil,” but ignores every brutal theocratic regime in the area, it’s certainly noteworthy.”
