Rep. Ilhan Omar sparked outrage Monday with a public plea for the United States to move from offering Israel “unconditional arms sales and military aid” to diplomacy.
Omar (D-Minn.), a member of the so-called “Squad,” also harped on the plight of the Palestinians and suggested that Israel’s retaliation against the terrorist group Hamas could be a “war crime.”
“The Israeli Defense Minister has called Palestinians ‘human animals’ and promised to cut off all electricity, all food and all fuel to civilians in Gaza,” Omar wrote in a lengthy threat on X, formerly Twitter.
“This is collective punishment, a war crime, and the United States should oppose any violation of international law if we truly support a rules-based international order,” he continued.
The 41-year-old congresswoman, who has long been an outspoken critic of Israel’s settlement policies and an advocate for Palestinians, further argued that “the solution to this horror, as always, is a negotiated peace.”
This is collective punishment, a war crime, and the United States should oppose any violation of international law if we truly support a rules-based international order.
—Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) October 9, 2023
“Instead of continuing unconditional arms sales and military aid to Israel, I urge the United States to finally use its diplomatic power to promote peace,” he emphasized.
His comments struck a chord with critics who criticized his call for peace just after the deadly attack on Israel that has killed more than 1,000 people.
“Israel has just been brutally attacked by terrorists, funded by Iran, and you want to cut off funding and aid and military equipment,” responded Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY).
“He is crazy and unfit to serve in the House of Representatives. “That’s why they removed him from the Foreign Affairs committee.”
Ilhan Omar has a long history of generating controversy with her statements regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. AFP via Getty Images
Israel has just been brutally attacked by terrorists, financed by Iran, and you want to cut off its funding, aid and military equipment. He is crazy and unfit to serve in the House of Representatives. That is why he was dismissed from the Foreign Affairs commission. https://t.co/nRIulpUgQi
—Mike Lawler (@lawler4ny) October 9, 2023
Omar was kicked out of the House Foreign Affairs Committee earlier this year after the GOP took control of the House.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) cited his previous comments on Israel as justification.
“Ilhan Omar and the squad took advantage of the days after Israel faced the largest terrorist attack in its history and the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust to call for cutting off military aid to those who were attacked,” said an account called AG .
Ilhan Omar and the squad took advantage of the days after Israel faced the largest terrorist attack in its history and the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust to call for cutting off military aid to those who were attacked. https://t.co/trK6YKzy2u
-AG (@AGHamilton29) October 9, 2023
“Ilhan calls on the US to leave Israel as Hamas parades rape survivors through the streets of Gaza. May God have mercy on your soul,” Mediate writer Isaac Schorr intervened.
“This is the literal definition of negotiating with terrorists,” said Gates McGavick, legal communications director for the Republican National Committee.
Omar became the first Muslim woman elected to the House of Representatives alongside Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) in 2019.
Tlaib, the first Palestinian member of the lower house, on Sunday described Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians as an “apartheid system” and emphasized that she regrets the “lost lives of both Palestinians and Israelis.”
Flames and smoke rise during Israeli attacks in Gaza, October 9, 2023. REUTERS
Ilhan calls on the US to leave Israel as Hamas parades rape survivors through the streets of Gaza.
May God have mercy on your soul. https://t.co/CyWDz11p0g
—Isaac Schorr (@isaac_schorr) October 9, 2023
“The path to that future must include lifting the blockade, ending the occupation and dismantling the apartheid system that creates suffocating and dehumanizing conditions that can lead to resistance,” Tlaib said.
Unlike Tlaib, Omar was quick to denounce Hamas’s deadly attack on the Jewish state that began Saturday.
“I condemn the horrible acts we are seeing unfold today in Israel against children, women, the elderly and unarmed people who are being massacred and taken hostage by Hamas.” Omar said at the time.
Omar also stressed on Monday that Gaza residents overwhelmingly live in extreme poverty and are made up mostly of children.
“Just as we honor the humanity of the hundreds of innocent Israeli civilians and 9 Americans who were murdered this weekend, we must honor the humanity of the innocent Palestinian civilians who have been murdered and whose lives have been turned upside down,” he added.
More than 1,000 Israelis are believed to have died in the bloody carnage and an estimated 2,600 were injured, according to Israeli media.
So far Biden has confirmed that at least 11 Americans died in the crossfire.
Hamas has also kidnapped an unknown number of hostages and thousands of people on both sides of the conflict have been injured.
Israel’s cabinet declared war for the first time in 50 years and launched airstrikes on Gaza ahead of an expected ground attack.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn