"We must have the same level of accountability and
justice for all victims of crimes against humanity."
By Jake Johnson
June 10, 2021 "Information
Clearing House" - - "Common
Dreams " -Congresswoman
Ilhan Omar of Minnesota hit back Wednesday
at the dozen fellow House Democrats who
accused her of "equating" the United States and
Israel to Hamas and the Taliban after she pointed
out that the U.S. and Israeli governments have
committed human rights atrocities—an
uncontroversial statement that the right-wing
media and
Republican lawmakers rushed to warp and
sensationalize.
In a joint
statement released late Wednesday, Democratic
Reps. Brad Schneider (Ill.), Jake Auchincloss
(Mass.), Ted Deutch (Fla.), Lois Frankel (Fla.),
Josh Gottheimer (N.J.), Elaine Luria (Va.), Kathy
Manning (N.C.), Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), Dean Phillips
(Minn.), Kim Schrier (Wash.), Brad Sherman (Calif.),
and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.) claimed that by
invoking U.S. and Israeli crimes against humanity,
Omar was giving "cover to terrorist groups" and
evincing "deep-seated prejudice."
"We urge Congresswoman Omar to clarify her words
placing the U.S. and Israel in the same category as
Hamas and the Taliban," the lawmakers said.
The Minnesota Democrat was
quick to defend herself on Twitter, slamming her
colleagues for putting out a public statement
demanding clarity on her comments without first
contacting her privately to discuss the matter.
Citing an unnamed House Democratic aide, the
New York Times
reported Thursday that Omar had heard the
Democratic lawmakers "were going to publicly call
for a clarification of her remarks and reached out
to them several times on Wednesday."
"They did not respond before their public
chastisement," the aide told the Times.
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Omar also accused the House Democrats of
deploying "Islamophobic tropes" by claiming her
remarks were fueled by "prejudice" against the U.S.
and Israel.
The exchange stems from a
tweet Omar posted earlier this week in which she
demanded "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," Omar wrote.
The Twitter post includes a clip from Omar's
questioning of U.S. Secretary of State Antony
Blinken during his appearance before the House
Foreign Affairs Committee on Monday.
Omar asked Blinken where victims of crimes
against humanity are supposed to seek recourse if
the U.S. doesn't support investigations by the
International Criminal Court (ICC), which is
currently probing alleged war crimes in
Afghanistan and the
occupied Palestinian territories.
In March, Blinken
said the U.S. opposes the probe in the occupied
territories on the grounds that the ICC has "no
jurisdiction over this matter"—a position the
secretary of state repeated during Monday's hearing.
And while the Biden administration
lifted Trump-era sanctions imposed on ICC
officials in retaliation for their war crimes probe
in Afghanistan, the U.S. has
yet to support the investigation.
In response to the attack from her fellow House
Democrats, Omar
said Wednesday that "citing an open case against
Israel, the U.S., Hamas, and the Taliban in the ICC
isn't comparison or from 'deeply seated prejudice.'"
"You might try to undermine these investigations
or deny justice to their victims," Omar added, "but
history has taught us that the truth can't be hidden
or silenced forever."
Omar's allies in the House and progressive
advocacy groups came to her defense. Rep. Rashida
Tlaib (D-Mich.), the first Palestinian-American
woman ever elected to Congress,
tweeted Thursday that she is "tired of
colleagues (both D+R) demonizing Ilhan Omar."
"Their obsession with policing her is sick,"
Tlaib continued. "She has the courage to call out
human rights abuses no matter who is responsible.
That's better than colleagues who look away if it
serves their politics."
IfNotNow, a progressive Jewish advocacy
organization,
said Thursday that the House Democrats "using
Islamophobic tropes to smear Ilhan Omar do not
represent the American Jewish community."
"They are more interested in protecting Israeli
occupation and apartheid than working towards Jewish
safety and equal rights for Palestinians and
Israelis," the group added.
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