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Washington: Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota was fired from the Foreign Affairs Committee over past comments about Israel following the debate on the House Floor on Tuesday morning, according to the statement released by the House of Meeks.
“Today’s vote is not a reflection of Representative Omar, but on the rank hypocrisy of Republican leadership, which has used its power to exact revenge on their political opponents and, in the case of Omar, punish a Member to satisfy the extreme MAGA (Make America Great Again) wing of their party,” the statement read.
This decision came after Omar had made what Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) recently described as “repeated antisemitic and anti-American remarks” throughout her time as a member of the House. The resolution explicitly condemns Omar for using an antisemitic trope to suggest Israel’s allies in US politics were motivated by money rather than principle when she in 2019 tweeted, “It’s all about the Benjamins baby,” according to The Washington Post.
“If the purpose of this vote is to punish a Member for antisemitism, this resolution should not be aimed at a Representative who has apologized and learned from her mistakes, but those within their own party who’ve yet to apologize for their antisemitic remarks and actions. It should be condemning Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene – of ‘Jewish spacefarers fame – for spreading conspiracies that ‘Zionist supremacists” are flooding Europe with migrants to replace white populations. It should be condemning Rep. Miller for quoting Adol f Hitler in Congressional remarks, or Rep. Gosar for inviting a Holocaust denier to the State of the Union,” the statement added.
The statement also stated that this resolution should condemn Speaker McCarthy himself for his November 6th tweet accusing three Jewish men of buying the election, an antisemitic dog whistle about Jewish money buying elections.
“Not only does Representative Omar not deserve to be removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, as the only African-born and Muslim Member on the Committee, but her perspective and insight also make her an invaluable asset to the Committee’s important work. Rather than allowing Congress to do its job and legislate, the very purpose that people have sent us to Washington in the first place, Republicans are spending time stripping a Member of her Committee assignment on grounds they themselves can’t stand on,” the statement added.
Calling Omar’s past statements ‘unfit’, McCarthy tweeted, “Make it clear she is unfit to represent the U.S. on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. She repeatedly used anti-semitic tropes. She described 9/11 by saying ‘some people did something’. She compared America and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban.”
lawmaker Ilhan Omar was arrested in July in Washington DC during an abortion rights protest in front of the Supreme Court. A video clip shared by Omar’s official Twitter handle showed the lawmaker pretending to be handcuffed as they were escorted away from the Supreme Court by police.
Earlier, controversial Omar visited Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). Not known to take much interest in Pakistan or the Kashmir issue previously, United States’ Muslim lawmaker Omar paid a highly publicized visit to PoK and promised to ‘mainstream’ Pakistan’s concerns with India which has made a little impact over the years in Washington.
Omar received a red carpet-welcome. She met Sharif and his foreign minister Hina Khar but also held a much-hyped meeting with Khan, her original host.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )
