On Thursday the GOP-led House of Representatives voted to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The final vote 218 to 211 on the party line with Rep. David Joyce (R-OH) voting present.
Omar has been consistently attacked for her critiques of Israel, not just by Republicans but by many members of her own party. She’s also faced stark opposition from pro-Israel lobbying groups. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) spent more than $350,000 trying to defeat Rep. Ilhan Omar her in last year’s primary and nearly succeeded.
Even in voting against removing Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) attacked Omar once again over statements criticizing the Israel lobby:
While GOP politicians have smeared Omar for her alleged “antisemitism” due to her criticism of Israel and the pro-Israel lobby in the United States, they have said very little about anti-Jewish sentiment within their own party, whether it’s former President Donald Trump dining with Holocaust deniers or Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) declaring that Jews have “bought” congress. The RNC recently drafted a statement opposing antisemitism but purposely equates the antisemitic statements of public figures and Nick Fuentes with Democratic House members who advocate for Palestinians, like Omar, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO).
Many of the GOP attacks on Omar have been Islamophobic, racist, and anti-immigrant. “She’s telling us how to run our country. How did you do where you came from? How is your country doing?,” asked former president Donald Trump at a 2020 rally. In 2021 Lauren Boebert (R-CO) joked about being relieved that Omar didn’t “have a backpack” when she saw her in the House, a reference to Omar being a potential suicide bomber. Shortly after the incident Omar played the bigoted voicemails of some Republican voters. “Don’t worry, there are plenty who would love the opportunity to take you off the face of this f****** earth,” said one caller. “You will not live much longer b****, I can almost guarantee you that.”
Omar defended record and shot back at her critics in a passionate floor speech. “I am Muslim. I am an immigrant. And interestingly, from Africa. Is anyone surprised that I am being targeted?” she asked. “I am an American — an American who was sent here by her constituents to represent them in Congress, a refugee who survived the horrors of a civil war. Someone who spent her childhood in a refugee camp, someone who knows what it means to have a shot at a better life here in the United States, and someone who believes in the American dream.”
Many criticized the move across Twitter. “The singling out of Ilhan Omar is primarily because she is a Muslim minority woman and perhaps secondarily because she is someone who is more critical of the exercise of US power on the world stage than most in DC,” tweeted the Washington Post‘s Ishaan Tharoor. “To suggest this is substantively about ‘anti-Semitism’ is a farce.”
“Let us be very clear,” wrote JVP Action. The Republican attacks on Ilhan Omar have nothing to do with keeping Jews safe. Nothing. This is about silencing a progressive Black Muslim woman and sending a threat to leaders who speak out for Palestinian rights.”
“It is an outrage that every Republican voted to remove Ilhan Omar– a third term Muslim American woman – from the Foreign Affairs committee,” tweeted Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. “Our job is to unite the American people, not divide them based on their race and religion. What a disgraceful day for the House.”
“My critique of our foreign policy, Israeli’s policy towards Palestinians or that of any foreign nation will not change,” wrote Omar after the vote. “As a person who suffered the horrors of war and persecution, my advocacy will always be for those that suffer because of the actions of governments.”
If you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen…those defending israel no matter what.
I heard multiple GOP Congress members on the radio yesterday talking about this, and barely a single one straight up mentioned Israel. The way they masterfully managed to talk around the subject of Israel and about her un-American disloyalty and values that don’t “align with America”, you’d swear she had been criticizing the USA itself, rather than the supremacist ethno-nationalist policies of a foreign nation.
GOP representative Kat Cammack went as far as to say that Omar’s views don’t represent Omar’s own constituents and that had they known about her criticism [of Israel] they wouldn’t have elected her or allowed her on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.Omitting the inconvenient fact that she’s been re-elected multiple times and faced numerous well financed (by AIPAC) primaries from pro-Israel stooges. So her constituents VERY much do agree with her criticism of the foreign nation.
It blows my mind how so many Republican and Democrat members have publicly, smeared, berated, and criticized her for her comments about “loyalty to Israel”, yet their main argument for removing her from the committee now is quite literally that she doesn’t support Israel and isn’t loyal enough to Israel’s interests! They have officially jumped the Orwellian shark!
Equally offensive is that not a single media outlet interviewing these scumbags, has followed up these statements by pointing out this glaringly obvious fact. They just nod and agree that antisemitism = bad and move on to a totally different line of questioning.
Another possible reason they threw her off: she undoubtedly knows more about the rest of the world than most members of Congress. Certainly than most Americans, who don’t know American history and geography, let alone that of other countries.
This was nothing but vindictive politics MAGA style. Gossar and MTG were kicked out of the Committees because they made violent threats against other members, Ilham Omar was exercising her rights to free speech. Trump dines with well known anti semites at his golf resort, makes anti semitic statements about Jews, and old Kev is okay with that? No outrage? You can stand on the House and Senate floor and criticize the President, other members of Congress, and their policies, but you cannot criticize Israel? This is bull manure, and we all know it. Rep.Omar has earned that seat on the Committee, and done good work co-sponsoring bills that favor veterans as well.
Old Kev is trying to impress his base, do Trump’s bidding, and please Israel.
Looks like more time will be wasted on vindictive politics, and less time on doing the people’s work.