Ilhan Omar says she doesn’t regret Israel and US comments
Washington (QNN)- Rep. Ilhan Omar said she has no regret over her controversial statements on Jews and Israel and stated that her Democratic congressional colleagues who have criticized her “haven’t been engaging in seeking justice around the world.”
In an interview with Jake Tapper on CNN, the Minnesota congresswoman was asked about a recent controversial tweet about holding ‘Israel’ and the US accountable for war crimes in occupied Palestine and Afghanistan, along with past remarks that Jewish groups and Jewish members of Congress have characterized as falling into anti-Semitic tropes.
Jake Tapper asks Rep. Ilhan Omar if she regrets her comments comparing the U.S. and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban:
"I don't" pic.twitter.com/iDOvgSIvXI
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 29, 2021
Tapper asked Omar about statements she made in past years.
“In 2019, you said lawmakers support Israel because it’s “all about the Benjamins,” which implies that politicians only support Israel because of money,” Tapper said.
“There was a tweet from 2012 when you said Israel had hypnotized the world. Do you understand why some of your fellow House Democrats, especially Jews, find that language anti-Semitic?”
Omar replied that she had “welcomed any time my colleagues have asked to have a conversation to learn from them, for them to learn from me.”
She added: “I think it’s really important for these [House] members to realize that they haven’t been partners in justice.”
“They haven’t been equally engaging in seeking justice around the world and I think I will continue to do that. It is important for me as someone who knows what it feels like to experience injustice in ways that many of my colleagues don’t – to be a voice in finding accountability.”
Recently, there has been backlash to Omar’s comments on holding ‘Israel’ and the US accountable for war crimes in occupied Palestine and Afghanistan.
The representative from Minnesota asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken this month during a hearing by the House Foreign Affairs Committee: “You opposed the court’s investigation in both Palestine and in Afghanistan.”
“In both of these cases, if domestic courts can’t or won’t pursue justice, and we oppose the ICC, where do we think victims are supposed to go for justice, and what justice mechanisms do you support for them?”
She followed with a tweet: “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 @SecBlinkenwhere people are supposed to go for justice.”
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
Her comments were met with waves of condemnations from lawmakers from both sides, criticising her for putting the US, Israel, in the same sentence as Hamas and the Taliban.
“Do you regret these comments?” Tapper asked her.
“No, I don’t,” replied Omar.
“I tend to think that people around the world who have experienced injustice need to be able to have a place where they can go. And as a country that helped found the ICC and supported it, I think that it is really important for us to continue to find ways in which people can find justice around the world.”
“I hear that,” Omar responded. “I have obviously clarified and, you know, apologized when I have felt that my words have offended. And it’s really important, right, as I’ve explained to my colleagues, they have engaged in Islamophobic tropes. I have yet to receive an apology.”
