Omar Appointed to House Foreign Relations Committee [Updated]

[Valin]

Power Line

John Hinderaker

January 17, 2019

We are awash these days in faux scandals, but this is a real one: Nancy Pelosi has appointed Ilhan Omar to the House Foreign Relations Committee. Omar is viciously anti-Israel and, I think, pretty clearly an anti-Semite. This is one of her notorious pronouncements on Israel:

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lhan Omar‏Verified account @IlhanMN

Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel. #Gaza #Palestine #Israel

9:15 AM - 16 Nov 2012

Omar also has come out in favor of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, a movement that is diametrically opposed to bipartisan U.S. foreign policy.

(Snip)

Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said, “I would love to know what changed, because Democratic leaders just promoted a pro-BDS Democrat to a key committee that deals with the State of Israel.” But I think we all know what has changed: there is a new wind blowing through the Democratic Party, and Ilhan Omar, despite her youth and inexperience (or perhaps because of those qualities), typifies it. The Democratic Party is increasingly anti-Israel and flirts, to be charitable, with anti-Semitism. Today we see the latest evidence of the character of what Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calls the “New party.”

UPDATE: Earlier today, Omar was asked about her claim that Israel is “evil” on CNN. You can judge her response for yourself:

 

(Snip)

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[Valin]

Rabbis Protest Omar Appointment to Foreign Relations

John Hinderaker

January 18, 2019

We wrote here about the fact that Nancy Pelosi has appointed Ilhan Omar to the House Foreign Relations Committee, notwithstanding Omar’s vicious hostility toward Israel, one of America’s key strategic partners, and her apparent anti-Semitism. Among other things, Omar is a supporter of the “BDS” movement that seeks to delegitimize Israel as an independent nation.

Today the Coalition for Jewish Values, which represents more than 1,000 rabbis on issues of public policy, delivered a letter to Pelosi, asking her to rescind her appointment of Omar to Foreign Relations. The letter is embedded below. Some excerpts:

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We write to express our alarm, dismay and outrage at your elevation of Freshman Representative Ilhan Omar to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. This decision runs contrary to the values of tolerance and equality to which the Democratic Party and your office have always been committed.

In 2012, as Israel defended itself against an expressly genocidal army which fired thousands of missiles at civilians, Ilhan Omar declared: “Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.”
***

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Now, you have responded to the anti-Semitic statements of Representative Omar by providing her a seat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, from which a House Member with such noxious views of Jewish self-defense can do maximal damage to the special US-Israel relationship and the ongoing fight of the civilized world against terrorism.

… We urge you to immediately rescind this ill-considered appointment.

 

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The Star Tribune chides Omar

Scott Johnson

Jan. 20 2019

(Snip)

Yesterday the Star Tribune chided Omar editorially in “A serious, unforced social-media error by U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar.” The editorial expresses disapproval of Omar’s comments about Graham, but it can’t resist the temptation to place them in the context of Trump tweets and statements by former Rep. Michele Bachmann. Michele has been out of office for four years (and I miss her!).

The editorial culminates in friendly advice to Omar not to embarrass us: “More care with her future communications will serve her — and Minnesota — well.” Physician, heal thyself. The Star Tribune would have served Minnesota well by covering Omar with a modicum of competence.

The editorial largely fails to serve any purpose other than discharging an obviously unpalatable obligation. By contrast, the pseudonymous attorney Warren Henry shows how one might perform a useful journalistic function criticizing Omar in the Federalist column “CNN Does Not Know How To Question Ilhan Omar’s Conspiracy Theories And Anti-Semitism.”

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Ilhan Omar: Terrorist Attacks Are Our Fault!

John Hinderaker

Feb. 4 2019

That headline might overstate the case, but only slightly. In 2013, left-wing activist (now Congresswoman) Ilhan Omar was interviewed by Ahmed Tharwat, who–for some reason–had a television show on public television in Minnesota. What sort of a guy is Tharwat? His Facebook page includes this delusional headline: “Winston Churchill killed as many as the worst genocidal dictators of the 20th Century, says Indian politician.”

So that’s the context. Omar’s interview took place in the immediate aftermath of the 2013 attack on a Kenyan shopping mall by the Islamic terrorist group al Shabaab, which originated in Omar’s Somalia. Hence the interview. I wrote about that horrific terrorist attack here and elsewhere. The al Shabaab attack was brutal, as I reported:

(Snip)

You really should watch the whole thing if you are interested in Ms. Omar’s role in contemporary politics. The short version is that she blamed the U.S.–her country, ostensibly–for al Shabaab’s shopping center massacre. Omar said:

Usually most people want to not look internal and see what their actions that makes another react. For us, it’s always ‘I must have not done anything. Why is it happening to me?’ Nobody wants to take accountability of how these are byproducts of the actions of our involvement in other people’s affairs.

Right. Al Shabaab massacred dozens at a Kenyan shopping mall because of “the actions of our involvement in other people’s affairs.” How does that work, exactly? Don’t look to Ilhan for a coherent explanation. She isn’t very bright. More important, she has chosen a side, and it isn’t ours.

(Snip)

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