Rep. Omar Says She Doesn’t Regret Antisemitic Statements

We’ve told you how Representative Ilhan Omar already compared the United States and Israel to known terrorist organizations Hamas and the Taliban. This wasn’t the first time her offensive rhetoric has been brought to light. Rep. Omar is a repeat offender when it comes to making biased and antisemitic remarks.

When will Members of Congress take these remarks seriously, remove Rep. Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee, and censure her?

In an interview on CNN, Rep. Omar was asked if she regrets making these comments. She responded:

I don’t. 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 [International Criminal Court], ICC has been investigating. I know that, you know, some of my colleagues don’t lend legitimacy to the ICC, but I tend to think that people around the world who have experience on justice 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.

She clearly still stands by her remarks. Her own party had to issue a statement just to cover her tracks. Yet, leaders in her party have not actually held her accountable for these antisemitic remarks she continues to make. Rep. Omar even tried to call out her Jewish colleagues to defend herself:

It’s really important for these Members to realize that they haven’t been partners in justice, they haven’t been, you know, equally engaging in seeking justice around the world.

Congressman Mike Waltz who authored the censure resolution against Rep. Omar joined Sekulow to discuss Rep. Omar’s rhetoric:

Well number one, to say that Jewish Members of Congress, that the Jewish people don’t understand injustice is beyond the pale. Number two, I’ve served as a Green Beret – I have fought all over the world. I have seen women at the hands of the Taliban abused, acid thrown on their faces, girls' schools burned down – one even machine gunned with the girls in them. So, to put the Taliban on the same level with Israel and with the United States is jaw-droppingly offensive. It’s ridiculous. I hope that Pelosi will put her money where her mouth is. We passed a censure resolution in 2019 and the Democrats stood up then. I hope to see another one on the floor from the Speaker; but like I said, talk is cheap. We will see if she walks the walk.

ACLJ Senior Counsel for Global Affairs Mike Pompeo gave his insight on Rep. Omar’s reason for her offensive rhetoric:

This is intentional. She knows precisely what she is doing. She knows exactly who she’s tweaking and how she’s doing it. She has a deep view that is fundamentally at odds with the way America protects itself and its own people. This playing footsie with the ICC – we have nothing to do with this. We didn’t sign the deal. We didn’t sign up for it.  They are trying to go after Americans who were serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. They are going after Israelis who have just been doing work to defend the country of Israel. She knows precisely what cute game she is playing and it's dangerous. We shouldn’t let other Democrats who claim to be Zionists and pro-Israel to claim to say we don’t want our soldiers, sailors, airman, and all of our public officials subject to this rogue court in the Hague. They should have to declare. You have to pick a side on this one. You can’t just say – oh, we talked to her and she issued a statement – that’s all just silliness. We know what she believes, and we need the leadership in the Democratic party to distance themselves from them.

ACLJ Director of Policy Harry Hutchison referenced a law review article he recently had published on the rise of antisemitic remarks not only in the United States but also on American campuses. He said:

It’s important to note – there has been a rise in antisemitism first in the U.S. and second on American campuses. Indeed, antisemitism has risen by about 75%, so Jews suffer from the most discrimination of any religious group in the U.S. But what is equally sad is that that type of discrimination, that type of harassment, has now become politically acceptable of mainstream campuses. So, the leadership of many leading universities is unwilling to crack down on obvious instances of antisemitism.

Enough is enough. Antisemitism is wrong. Period. It has no place on American campuses and especially not in Congress. To have an elected Representative of our country compare the United States and Israel to two of the biggest terrorist organizations to ever exist and then go even further to claim that we have similar crimes against humanity is out of touch and unacceptable, to say the least. Given that Rep. Omar has a history of these types of comments, it is time for Congress to step up and remove her from the Foreign Affairs Committee and censure her immediately once and for all.

Today’s full Sekulow broadcast is complete with even more analysis of Rep. Omar’s unashamed remarks.

Watch the full broadcast below.