Rep. Ilhan Omar Says She 'Almost Chuckles' When People Say Israel Is a Democracy
- Updated Feb 01, 2019
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) tweeted Thursday in agreement with an activist who said that Israel isn’t a democracy.
Previously Omar had said she “almost chuckles” when people say Israel is a democracy.
“And so when I see Israel institute laws that recognize it as a Jewish state and does not recognize the other religions that are living in it,” she told Yahoo News.
“And we still uphold it as a democracy in the Middle East I almost chuckle because I know that if we see that any other society we would criticize it, call it out,” the lawmaker continued. “We do that to Iran, we do that to any other place that sort of upholds its religion. And I see that now happening with Saudi Arabia and so I am aggravated, truly, in those contradictions.”
Those comments led to criticism of the first Somali-American to be elected to the House. Former New York state Assemblyman Dov Hikind tweeted that her statements were anti-Semitic.
“Who objects to Saudi Arabia being Islamic? Or any of the other 48 Muslim states? The issue with Iran isn’t their state religion; it’s their terror-loving leaders that are condemned. @IlhanMN needs to learn about the world before she’s out of excuses for her antisemitism,”
Who objects to Saudi Arabia being Islamic? Or any of the other 48 Muslim states? The issue with Iran isn’t their state religion; it’s their terror-loving leaders that are condemned. @IlhanMN needs to learn about the world before she’s out of excuses for her antisemitism. https://t.co/zQFiK7PwV1
— Dov Hikind (@HikindDov) January 30, 2019
Said Jim Hanson, president of Security Studies Group: “@IlhanMN is an anti-Semite. Give her an opportunity to speak her mind & like most bigots she'll tell you. She laughs at the idea Israel is a democracy & compares it to Iran. Shameful to have those ideas represented in Congress.”
.@IlhanMN is an anti-Semite
Give her an opportunity to speak her mind & like most bigots
She'll tell you
She laughs at the idea Israel is a democracy & compares it to Iran
Shameful to have those ideas represented in Congress pic.twitter.com/BYc63YBXT8— Jim Hanson (@Uncle_Jimbo) January 31, 2019
Thursday, Omar shared a tweet from activist Max Berger. Berger originally tweeted, “The American Jewish establishment claims Israel is a democracy for all its citizens. But the nation-state law classifies 1.6 million Palestinian Israelis as second class. And 4.7 million people live under Israeli military occupation or control without political or human rights.”
Omar added to one of Berger’s tweets that she would not be silent about Israel.
“They can attack, spin my words and vilify me, but they will not succeed in silencing me,” she said.
Many of them truly know this, but don’t want to accept it. In the same way many Americans knew separate yet equal was immoral but remained silent until brave few were silent no more.
They can attack, spin my words and vilify me, but they will not succeed in silencing me! https://t.co/JSwhoSQuGF— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 1, 2019
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