She’s a female, Muslim, former refugee and woman of color. She ticks all the boxes Progressive Democrats, especially Ilhan Omar, campaign on. But she’s more than that. Dalia al-Aqidi comes with decades of professional experience, a great history, an outstanding reputation, intelligence and love for America.
She’s a true American, and she is taking a stand for the country she calls home. In short, she’s everything Ilhan Omar isn’t.
The public challenge began in August of 2019, when Dalia, who’s also a prominent veteran journalist, had reached a stage where she felt the need to confront Ilhan Omar about her statements, suspicious affiliations and the accusations surrounding her. So, she publicly made the request for an interview.
@IlhanMN I dare you to give me a 30 minute face to face interview. From one Muslim immigrant to another. If you have the courage to face someone other than your AlJazeera @ajmubasher friends. #DaringOmar4Interview
— Dalia al-Aqidi (@Dalia4Congress) August 13, 2019
At first, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar tried to escape Dalia’s public request, but it became hard to do so when Dalia’s tweet, accompanied with the hashtag #DaringOmar4Interview went viral, surpassing 3,000 likes and 1,000 retweets in no time. She also travelled to Minnesota to interview members of the public and accurately reflect their concerns.
Dalia, whom the Chicago Tribune lauds as the “most-watched TV reporter no one in America has seen” also questioned why Ilhan Omar usually refuses to grant interviews to U.S. media outlets, while frequently appearing on Al Jazeera, “Osama Bin Laden’s favorite network,” which is also owned by the government of Qatar.
Ilhan responded to Dalia in a now-deleted tweet stating that Dalia is not from her district, and therefore does not ‘represent her.’ She provided the same response to another Muslim woman who claimed that Ilhan did not represent her.
To give Ilhan Omar no excuse, Dalia literally relocated to Minnesota, and to Ilhan Omar’s MN05 district, leaving the Congresswoman with no option but to respond to Dalia. Her insistence on supporting the terror-tied BDS movement and the Ayatollahs in Iran, as well as her antisemtic and anti-American rhetoric caused Dalia to challenge her in the upcoming elections.
Last week, Al-Aqidi released a powerful campaign video that has already been viewed almost two million times on Twitter alone. In it, she criticizes Ilhan Omar and the policies she believes harm America.
THIS VIDEO IS AMAZING. @dalia4Congress is running against Ilhan Omar in MN-5. Donate here: https://t.co/y0gdWAABhk pic.twitter.com/gdRJbQWc9K
— David Reaboi (@davereaboi) January 16, 2020
It is clear that Dalia is an experienced Muslim. She knows an Islamist extremist when she sees one, and this has already set off alarms for CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood base in the USA. When the time comes for Dalia to challenge Omar, she cannot be dismissed as Islamophobic, because she is Muslim, nor can she be accused of being a racist, because she too is a woman of color. This time the debate will be: A patriotic American Muslim versus a woman who is tied to Islamist institutes and is being investigated by both ICE and the FBI “for what could be the worst-ever crime spree by an elected US could be official.”
“I truly believe that I’m strong enough to beat her at her own game”, Al-Aqidi told Fox News, adding that Omar would be limited in using her dramatic background as a Muslim woman who migrated to the US because they are “basically the same”.
“I am loyal to the country that gave me a chance, gave me a brighter future”, Al-Aqidi said, suggesting that Omar “continually tries to weaken the country and divide us […] Conflict resolution is an art. You cannot do anything without a conversation. You talk to the other side and try to figure out something that will be acceptable. Trashing the other side will get you nowhere”, she said, cited by Fox News.
It’s time to defend America! I’m running for Congress because we’re not as divided as Ilhan Omar and the far-left would have us believe. I’m running to bring us closer together. https://t.co/sa9dsHHTeO
— Dalia al-Aqidi (@Dalia4Congress) January 16, 2020
Unlike Ilhan Omar, Dalia al-Aqidi rejects identity politics. She says: “Muslims, Christians, Jews are all Americans,” adding that “Every time she [Omar] opens her mouth, she says something either anti-US or antisemitic.”
The Jerusalem Post was one of the first news agencies to cover the launch of Dalia’s campaign, stating that: “There is evidence that Omar’s constituents are sympathetic to Aqidi’s criticism of their representative. Omar campaigned on a platform of giving the Somalian community a voice, but despite having introduced the Homes for All Act, which would authorize the expansion of America’s public housing supply by 12 million units, some locals have said that they feel her focus is elsewhere.”
Ilhan Omar’s office is yet to respond to a request for comment.
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Imam Tawhidi is an Australian Muslim Scholar, Thinker, Educator, Speaker, and one of the main leading voices in the global movement of Islamic reform who has dedicated his life to ideologically tackling the spread of Islamic Extremism.
