Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) went on CNN on Tuesday to say that she has no regrets about comparing the United States and Israel with terrorist groups. She added that House Democrats who have criticized some of her comments as antisemitic “haven’t been equally engaging in seeking justice around the world.”
“Ultimately, Democratic leaders said that equating the U.S. and Israel with Hamas and the Taliban ‘foments prejudice,'” host Jake Tapper began.
“And as you know, a group of Jewish House Democrats wrote a letter to President Biden saying that accusing Israel of acts of terror, as you and other members of the Squad have done, is antisemitic,” he added. “Do you regret these comments?”
Omar Sounds Off
“I don’t,” Omar replied, according to The Hill. “I think it’s really important to think back to the point that I was trying to make. Obviously, I was addressing Secretary of State Blinken. The cases are put together in front of the ICC. [The] ICC has been investigating.”
“I know that some of my colleagues don’t lend legitimacy to the ICC, but 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,” she continued. “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.”
Related: Republicans Introduce Resolution To Censure Ilhan Omar, Squad Over Comments Comparing US To Hamas
Tapper then read some of Omar’s past comments that have been panned as anti-semitic before asking her, “Do you understand why some of your fellow House Democrats, especially Jews, find that language antisemitic?”
Omar Doubles Down
“I have welcomed any time my colleagues have asked to have a conversation to learn from them, for them to learn from me,” Omar said. “I think it’s really important for these 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,” she continued. “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, asking for mechanisms for justice for those who are maligned, oppressed, and who have had injustice done to them.”
“What do you say to them — I hear everything you’re saying about your fight for justice, but what do you say to them when they say, I hear what you’re saying, but the terms you’re using, the language you’re using is antisemitic?” Tapper asked.
Omar Concludes Her Rant
“And I hear that,” Omar replied. “I have obviously clarified and 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.”
“I think when we are engaging in a space where we don’t know how our language will be received, it is important for us to be open-minded, and I think I have always been someone who is humbled, someone who understands how words can be harmful and hurtful to people, and I’ve always listened and learned and behaved accordingly and showed up with compassion and care,” she concluded.
This piece was written by James Samson on June 30, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.
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