Rep. Omar denies equating US and Israel with terrorists
WASHINGTON — Rep. Ilhan Omar tried edging away Thursday from a bitter fight with Jewish Democratic lawmakers who had accused her of likening the U.S. and Israel to Hamas and Afghanistan’s Taliban, saying her remarks were “in no way equating terrorist organizations with democratic countries.”
A three-paragraph statement by the Minnesota Democrat also said her comments were “not a moral comparison between Hamas and the Taliban and the U.S. and Israel,” and seemed to dial back a more confrontational tone she’d taken earlier.
In a series of tweets, Omar had said her critics’ public rebuke of her was “shameful,” accused them of “islamophobic tropes” and said she was merely seeking justice “for all victims of crimes against humanity.”
Minutes after Omar released her latest remarks, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and the other top five House Democratic leaders issued an unusual joint statement making clear they disapproved of Omar’s language.
“Drawing false equivalencies between democracies like the U.S. and Israel and groups that engage in terrorism like Hamas and the Taliban foments prejudice and undermines progress toward a future of peace and security for all,” the leaders said. “We welcome the clarification by Congresswoman Omar that there is no moral equivalency between the U.S. and Israel and Hamas and the Taliban.”
The leaders’ statement also seemed designed to try defusing their party’s latest rancorous divisions over the Middle East.
That schism has generally pitted younger progressives against older, establishment-leaning lawmakers, a divide that has intensified since last month’s 11-day war between Israel and Hamas.
The quick intervention by top Democrats also came ahead of what may be a Republican attempt to train attention on Omar’s words when the House returns next week from recess.
In a possible preview of that, the National Republican Congressional Committee tweeted Thursday, “@ Housedemocrats must vote to strip anti-Semite @ IlhanMN of her committee assignments.”
The NRCC is the House GOP campaign organization.
Such an effort by Republicans would likely fail in the Democratic-run chamber, but it would spotlight divisions within the party that the GOP has sought to exploit before.
This week’s flare-up involving Omar, 38, was the most recent instance in which she has clashed with fellow Democrats over the Middle East. Two months after she arrived in Congress in 2019, the House approved a resolution condemning antisemitism and other forms of bigotry — without mentioning her — after she made remarks
that critics said accused Israel supporters of having dual allegiances.
The latest confrontation between Omar, a Muslim-American born in Somalia, and fellow Democrats began when she tweeted a Monday exchange with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a video conference in which she called for justice “for all victims of crimes against humanity.”
The remarks that drew the most attention came when she said, “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.”
Late Wednesday, Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., and 11 other Jewish House Democrats issued a statement labeling those remarks offensive and misguided. They said she should “clarify” what she meant.
Underscoring the split within the party, Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., a progressive freshman, lashed out Thursday at Omar’s Democratic detractors.
“I’m not surprised when Republicans attack Black women for standing up for human rights,” she tweeted. “But when it’s Democrats, it’s especially hurtful.”