US Rep. Ilhan Omar is notorious for her anti-semitic statements that pass with little or no repercussions. She also has a distinctly un-American fascination with terrorism that may have gotten her into trouble.
Omar: Retweeting posts by terrorist-linked anti-Israel organization
On Tuesday, Omar retweeted a video posted by Marwa Fatafta, who describes herself as a ‘Palestinian feminist’. The video was produced by the International Solidarity Movement (ISM).
This Palestinian child carrying his Spider-Man school backpack violently snatched and detained by Israeli forces.
His wriggling is too painful to watch, but sure tell this brutalized child that @SecBlinken says he can claim justice from his abusers.pic.twitter.com/mNpVMqbiqj
— Marwa Fatafta مروة فطافطة #SaveSheikhJarrah (@marwasf) June 8, 2021
ISM claimed, “This Palestinian child carrying his Spider-Man school backpack violently snatched and detained by Israeli forces. His wriggling is too painful to watch, but sure tell this brutalized child that @SecBlinken says he can claim justice from his abusers.”
An IDF tweet told a different story, showing the contents of the child’s backpack: two handguns with ammunition, three cell phones, cigarettes, and other decidedly un-child-like items. The IDF added the admonition, “A child’s backpack should hold books, not weapons.”
Today, we found this child’s backpack used by 2 Palestinians to hide guns & ammunition. Our soldiers noticed them acting suspiciously near an Israeli community, found the weapons, and arrested them.
A child’s backpack should hold books, not weapons. pic.twitter.com/EdXRrfKKLL
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) August 5, 2019
ISM: advocates for terrorism; helps terrorists
Despite its peaceful-sounding name and claims to being an organization dedicated to non-violence, ISM explicitly supports “the Palestinian right to resist Israeli violence and occupation via legitimate armed struggle.”
In 2010, ISM was deemed by the Anti-defamation League (ADL) as one of the top 10 anti-Israel organizations in the country. Last year, The Intercept reported that the FBI conducted at least two major investigations into ISM that included the use of ‘confidential informants and physical surveillance.’
The Israeli Foreign Ministry has linked ISM to terrorist attacks inside Israel and “ISM members take an active part in illegal and violent actions against IDF soldiers.” According to Israel Security Service (Shin-Bet), some of the ISM activists maintain connections with terrorists and act to disrupt IDF operations in the territories.
Israeli judge Oded Gershon ruled about the ISM that “In fact, the organization abuses human rights and morals discourse to blur the severity of its actions which manifested de facto as violence.” He also ruled that ISM activists provided financial, logistic and moral aid to terrorists.
Despite being pro-Palestinian, several ISM activists have been murdered by Islamist terrorists, most notably Italian ISM activist Vittorio Arrigoni who was abducted, tortured, and executed by hanging by a Salafist group in the Gaza Strip. It is believed that he was killed for being openly homosexual.
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Omar’s long love affair with terrorism
Omar has recently garnered criticism for equating “atrocities” committed by the US and Israel with terrorism carried out by the Taliban and Hamas.
We must have the same level of accountability and justice for all victims of crimes against humanity.
We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban.
I asked @SecBlinken where people are supposed to go for justice. pic.twitter.com/tUtxW5cIow
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) June 7, 2021
She lashed out at criticism of these remarks, calling them “shameful” and accusing them of engaging in “islamophobic tropes”.
“It’s shameful for colleagues who call me when they need my support to now put out a statement asking for ‘clarification’ and not just call,” she tweeted.
“The islamophobic tropes in this statement are offensive. The constant harassment & silencing from the signers of this letter is unbearable.”
It’s shameful for colleagues who call me when they need my support to now put out a statement asking for “clarification” and not just call.
The islamophobic tropes in this statement are offensive. The constant harassment & silencing from the signers of this letter is unbearable. https://t.co/37dy2UduW0
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) June 10, 2021
Rather than ostracize Omar, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisted that the “clarification” was sufficient.
“I think that she clarified her remarks and we accept that, and she has a point that she wanted to make and she has a right to make that point,” Pelosi told media, shutting down any further questions on the topic. “There’s some unease about how it was interpreted.”
Ironically, Hamas took umbrage at the comparison.
“She equated between the victim and the executioner when she treated the resistance of the Palestinian people, the Israeli crimes in Palestine, and the US aggression in Afghanistan as an equal footing,” Bassem Naim, the Islamist terror organization’s international spokesperson, said in a statement. “…it is unacceptable to make such an unfair comparison, which contradicts with basic norms of justice and international law.”
Omar has a long and rich history of being soft on terrorism. In 2016, she asked a judge for “compassion” and a “restorative approach to justice” in judging nine men charged with planning to join ISIS. In one of the cases, the defense attempted to draw a parallel between ISIL propaganda and the recruiting efforts of the United States Army. In her letter to the judge, Omar insisted taht the best approach to Islamist fanaticism is a “system of compassion.”
In an interview on the show “Belahdan” on Twin Cities PBS in 2013, Omar compared the US to Hezbollah and Al Qaeda.
“When I was in college, I took a terrorism class. … The thing that was interesting in the class was every time the professor said ‘Al Qaeda’ his shoulders went up,” Omar said during an interview from 2013 when she was an activist within the Somali community, chuckling as she imitated the professor saying “Al Qaeda” and “Hezbollah.”
“But you know, it is that you don’t say ‘America’ with an intensity, you don’t say ‘England’ with the intensity. You don’t say ‘the army’ with the intensity,” she continued. “… But you say these names [Al Qaeda] because you want that word to carry weight. You want it to be something.”
A recently discovered video shows @IlhanMN mocking Americans for their anxiety about al-Qaeda, equating US armed forces to al-Qaeda and Hezbollah. pic.twitter.com/VBuKhAHjjE
— Reagan Battalion (@ReaganBattalion) April 11, 2019
President Trump was widely criticized for referring to Omar’s comments with mainstream “fact-checkers” labeling his statements as false, despite the video evidence.
Yet again, at a Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) event in 2019, Omar trivialized the Islamist 9-11 attack that killed 3,000 Americans, implying that anger at the attack was thinly veiled islamophobia.
“For far too long we have lived with the discomfort of being a second-class citizen, and frankly I’m tired of it, and every single Muslim in this country should be tired of it,” Omar said. “CAIR was founded after 9/11 because they recognized that some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties.”
Anti-semite of the year
In 2019, Omar was voted “Anti-Semite of the Year” by stopantisemitism.org. The accomplishments listed as meriting this title were as follows:
- Accusing American Jewry of possessing dual loyalty.
- Alleging that Jews buy their influence with money, infamously stating “It’s all about the Benjamins.”
- Accusing Israel of having hypnotized the world.
- Supporting the antisemitic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.
- Submitting a resolution in the House of Representatives comparing boycotting Israel to boycotting the Nazis.
- Having her antisemitic statements endorsed by infamous neo-Nazi David Duke.
The organization also mentioned her refusal to take back or regret many of her antisemitic comments, as well as the backing she receives from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which is connected to the Muslim Brotherhood.
“Congratulations to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar on her unmatched antisemitism,” the video concluded.
Mazal Tov to #IlhanOmar on being named 2019’s Antisemite of the Year! Thousands voted & the Freshmen Congresswoman came out on top as the most vile Jew hater!
America cannot afford leadership that perpetuates hatred against the #Jewish people! https://t.co/hrRKRxoYuo @Ilhan pic.twitter.com/NJFE3rcM9B
— StopAntisemitism.org (@StopAntisemites) January 6, 2020
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