The House of Representatives voted on party lines to oust Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar from the powerful the House Foreign Affairs Committee over her consistently anti-Israel and anti-American statements.
All Republicans voted for excluding Omar from the panel, while the Democrats stood by her, resulting in a 218-211 vote that saw her out of the committee.
Member Should Hold 'Equal Standards' Says GoP
The Republicans explained the rationale behind excluding Omar from the foreign affairs panel in a four-page resolution. The resolution clarifies that all members of the foreign affairs panel must hold equal standard of conduct due to the international sensitivities and national security concerns under the jurisdiction of the panel.
"Representative Omar, by her own words, has disqualified herself from serving on the Committee on Foreign Affairs, a panel that is viewed by nations around the world as speaking for Congress on matters of international importance and national security," it said.
Comparing US with Taliban and Hamas
The GoP had said in the past it would remove Omar from the panel if they wrested control of the House. Some of the most offensive statements from Omar included the ones in which she regularly equated Israel and the US with Hamas and the Taliban.
She also insinuated in House speeches that Jewish people were 'buying' US political support. "It's all about the Benjamins, baby," she had said, making even the Democrats uncomfortable with the anti-Semitic remark.
"As a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I've sat there and heard the representative actually spew anti-American rhetoric as well ... I've been in that committee room where the representative equates Israel and the United States to Hamas and the Taliban. Absolutely unacceptable for a member of that committee," said Representative Nicole Malliotakis of New York.
Playing Down 9/11 Terror Attack
Omar, who hails from Somalia, once played down the 9/11 al-Qaeda attacks in the US that killed 3,000 people. She merely brushed off the biggest terror attack in the world as "some people did something."
In a speech made in 2019 at a meeting of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Omar implied that the terror attack was a minor incident. "CAIR was founded after 9/11 because they recognized that some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties,"she said.
The comment triggered widespread protests in the US. "On that day, 19 Islamic terrorists, members of Al Qaeda killed over 3,000 people and caused billions in dollars of economic damage. Is that clear? But as to whom? I was attacked, your relatives and friends were attacked. Our constitutional freedoms were attacked. And our nation's founding on Judeo-Christian principles were attacked. That's what some people did. Got that now?" he continued. "We are here today, congresswoman, to tell you and The Squad just who did what to whom. Show respect in honoring them, please. American patriotism – in your position demand it," Nicholas Haros Jr, the son of a 9/11 victim said in a viral comment.
'May Allah Awaken People' Against Israel
In another anti-Israel outburst in 2021, Omar said the only Jewish nation in the world was 'apartheid state'. In 2019, the House passed a resolution condemning "anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, racism and other forms of bigotry" after Ilhan Omar said US politicians lobbying for Israel are showing allegiance to another country. "I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country," she said.
In 2012, she tweeted, "Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel"
Reusing to Back Resolution Declaring Armenian Genocide
In yet another affront on the US democratic and human rights values, Omar voted against a resolution that declared the Armenian massacre by Ottoman Turkey a genocide. Explaining her stand of not supporting the resolution, the lawmaker from Minnesota said it was important to first condemn the "mass slaughter of indigenous people" as well as the "traumatic slave trade".
In 1915-1916, over a million Christian Armenians perished when the Ottoman Turks deported them in large numbers from Eastern Anatolia to the Syrian desert.
