Rep. Ilhan Omar: 'Raise Hell, Make People Uncomfortable', 'Tired' of US Muslims 'Being a Second-Class Citizen'

   Rep. Ilhan Omar's recent comments regarding 9/11 at a Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) banquet have caused an uproar amongst her detractors, and their response has caused a similar uproar amongst her supporters. Omar's comments have mostly been heard in short excerpts, but her complete remarks are available here on YouTube. Below is a transcription of the remarks surrounding her mention of 9/11 and the video queued up to the excerpt is embedded below as well.

"It doesn't matter how good you are if you one day find yourself in a school where other religions are talked about but when Islam is mentioned we are only talking about terrorists and if you say something you are sent to the principal's office. So to me I say, raise hell, make people uncomfortable because here's the truth, here's the truth: far too long we have lived with the discomfort of being a second-class citizen and frankly I'm tired of it and every single Muslim in this country should be tired of it. 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. So you can't just say that today someone is looking at me strange, that I am going to try to make myself look pleasant.  You have to say this person is looking at me strange I am not comfortable with it I am going to go talk to them and ask them why, because that is a right you have."

   Rep. Omar has a history of making remarks regarding the US that rub her detractors the wrong way. In 2017, Omar wrote that "our nation was founded by genocide and we maintain global power through neocolonialism," as The Script reported earlier on Thursday.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, 2017: 'Our Nation Was Founded By Genocide'

    In the wake of the display of white nationalism and the murder of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, WV in August 2017, then-Minnesota state representative Ilhan Omar wrote an op-ed for Time Magazine entitled "Unity Will Take Generations."
   Rep. Omar wrote that "American hate is not new — and it is not scarce," and that "our nation was founded by the genocide of indigenous people and on the backs of slaves, [and] that we maintain global power with the tenor of neocolonialism."
   She promoted her article on Twitter as shown here:

   Omar argued in the op-ed that there has been a "regression in our democracy [and] we are fighting for the lost promises of liberty, justice and pursuit of happiness." She suggested education and interaction "with those we fear and hate" can help "bridge the divide."
   Addressing the white nationalism and violence of Charlottesville, Omar wrote that "we have not focused on laws to protect us from domestic terrorism. We are at a bigger risk of destroying ourselves than falling at the hands of external extremists." (Rep. Omar has recently come under criticism for an offhand reference to 9/11 as "something" that "some people did.")
   Rep. Omar concluded her op-ed asserting that there is still hope to restore America:

It is possible, but it will take a long time — we are trying to undo centuries of institutional and personal hatred and exclusion. This is a generational project; do not underestimate the power of human connection.

    Rep. Omar's office did not respond to emailed questions from The Script regarding her comment that this country was "founded by genocide" and whether or not her statement that the United States "maintain[s] global power with the tenor of neocolonialism" applied during the Barack Obama administration as well.

Ilhan Omar on Israel-Palestine Conflict: "We Only Value The Lives Of Certain People"

   In May 2018, the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict flared up along Israel's border with the Gaza Strip as the US shifted its embassy to Jerusalem. Protests turned violent as up to 35,000 Palestinians, at the instigation of Hamas according to US and Israeli officials, clashed with Israeli security forces. As many as 60 Palestinians were killed as Israel fought back against rioters who were throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails and burning tires, in addition to at least one direct armed attack.
    In response to the Palestinian deaths, freelance writer David Klion, a former editor for Al Jazeera America, wrote on Twitter, "Israel has killed more Palestinians at the Gaza border in the past six weeks than East Germany killed crossing the Berlin Wall from 1961-1989." Ilhan Omar, since elected to Congress to Keith Ellison's old seat, tweeted out Klion's comparison, adding, "It’s not a big secret that we only value the lives of certain people 😢 #Palestinians #GazaMassacre #peace."

   Rep. Omar has found herself at the center of several anti-Semitism controversies in the few short months since her election, drawing sharp rebuke and condemnation of her words from even Democrats who otherwise support her. Omar was recently forced to issue what turned out to be an equivocal apology for her "All About the Benjamins" remarks regarding AIPAC, comments that had drawn unwelcome support from none other than the Nation of Islam's Louis Farrakhan as The Script reported.

Farrakhan's Nation of Islam Defends Rep. Ilhan Omar “All About The Benjamins” Tweet

   An article posted this week on the Nation of Islam's "Research Group" website defends Rep. Ilhan Omar's widely condemned tweet this week, "It's all about the Benjamins baby." Rep. Omar's remark's was a response to a report that Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy threatened to punish Omar and fellow House member Rep. Rashida Tlaib over criticism of Israel. When asked "who [Omar] thinks is paying American politicians to be pro-Israel," Omar responded "AIPAC!"
   Members of both parties, including Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, roundly condemned Omar's remarks as an anti-Semitic trope, and the House voted 424-0 on a motion to recommit to "combat anti-Semitism around the world" just days after the incident. Omar offered a half-hearted apology for her remarks, tweeting that she was "[l]istening and learning, but standing strong." Rep. Omar was rebuked for her comments, but has suffered no consequences from her party.
   As if on cue, the notoriously anti-Semitic Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam trotted out a defense of Rep. Omar's remarks, writing:

Rep. Ilhan Omar was called “anti-Semitic” for tweeting that American politics is “all about the Benjamins”—Benjamins being slang for cash money. Jews, who are 1.4% of the U.S. population, took offense to the suggestion that their money inordinately influences the electoral process. According to the election watchdog organization Center for Responsive Politics, the top 20 donors to federal candidates in 2018 contributed $532,225,145. Of those top 20, 12 (60%) are Jewish. The total contributed by those 12 Jews amounts to $416,291,558 or 78.2% of the total. 

 

   Notably, the article does not make mention of Israel or America's policies, only that "Jews... took offense" over the suggestion that "their money" had undue electoral influence. The article links to a summary of the top 20 individual donors to federal candidates in 2018 with columns added to indicate "Jewish" donors versus "Gentiles":

   The split between donations to liberal/Democratic versus conservative/Republican candidates by those donors identified as Jewish is roughly 60/40. This document makes no reference to the donors' or the candidates' positions on Israel or US policy towards Israel, only the donors' identities as Jewish or Gentile.

   The Nation of Islam also takes the opportunity to promote a The Secret Relationship Between Blacks & Jews, a Nation of Islam polemic blaming virtually every ill suffered by African Americans in the United States going back hundreds of years on Jews.

   This weekend, the Nation of Islam and Farrakhan hold their 2019 Saviours' Day convention in Chicago. As The Script reported earlier this week, a presentation by 9/11 Truthers at the 2017 Saviour's Day event blamed Jews for the 9/11 attacks as a false flag operation to justify a War on Islam. The presentation included this image:

   The Nation of Islam's 2019 Saviours' Day event kicks off today, Friday, February 15, at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Conference Center in Chicago and is expected to be attended by thousands if prior years are any indication. Louis Farrakhan will address the crowd on Sunday at the United Center.