Rep. Ilhan Omar (center) with children.
Last week, Rep. Omar was removed from the Foreign Affairs Committee by Republicans in the House. This action is a political attack against her. She should be reinstated to the Foreign Affairs Committee. However, House Speaker McCarthy is extremely unlikely to reverse himself and do that.
So we are calling for a different action that would affirm Rep. Omar. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has said he would push to have her named to the Budget Committee. You can contact House Speaker McCarthy and let him know that you object to Minnesota Representative Omar being removed from the Foreign Affairs Committee. And you can call on him to now name her to the Budget Committee.
Rep. Ilhan Omar’s voice is critical to ending the support of our tax dollars to the oppression of Palestinians by the Israeli government. In contrast with many others in our Congress, Rep. Omar does not ignore Israeli violations of international law and human rights.
ACTIVATE your House member!
Rep. Ilhan Omar’s voice will continue to be integral to ending the support of our tax dollars to the oppression of Palestinians by the Israeli government. Her compassionate reporting on conditions for Palestinians has led to accusations of antisemitism.
In contrast with many others in our Congress, Rep. Omar does not ignore Israeli violations of international law and human rights. Let your House member know you support House Leader Jeffries’ initiative to put Representative Omar on the Budget Committee.
Why Rep. Omar?
While there is a certain amount of political payback, for Democrats last term having removed Republicans from a few committee assignments, why is Rep. Omar singled out, and why at this time?
Rep. Omar is outspoken about the dangerous trajectory of violence in the occupied West Bank, continuing the alarming upward trend from 2022. Now, after the Israeli military’s murders in the Jenin refugee camp last week, she has been removed from this important committee where she has served with distinction for four years.
Accusing her of antisemitism is a familiar distraction after deadly Israeli actions last week. Rep. Omar has responded to the allegations that she is antisemitic, explaining that she is only calling for the same level of accountability for Israel and the U.S. as is expected of groups accused of terrorism.
Rep. Omar also supports the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. She has denounced Israeli settlement policy and military campaigns in the occupied Palestinian territories, as well as what she describes as the influence of pro-Israel lobbies. She cites conditions on the ground in Palestine in her reports.
Additionally, targeting a woman of color, a Muslim, and an immigrant is not new! As a Muslim, Representative Omar has lived with the discomfort of being a second-class citizen. As a result of her background she has been the subject of several death threats, as well as derogatory comments by political opponents, including Donald Trump.
Omar was born in Mogadishu, Somalia. She and her family fled Somalia to escape the Somali Civil War and spent four years in a Dadaab refugee camp in Garissa County, Kenya, near the Somali border. Omar's family secured asylum in the U.S. and arrived in New York when she was a teenager.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) tweeted “The highly partisan vote to remove @Ilhan was not about accountability. It was about political revenge.”
Your action counts!
What will you do to support honest responses to what’s transpiring in Israel-Palestine? Write a letter to the editor? Make Facebook posts? Speak out through other social media?
Would you like to help plan future WILPF actions and responses? The Middle East Peace and Justice Action Issue Committee welcomes your participation. Contact us at MEPJAction@wilpfus.org
Tura Campanella Cook & Jan Corderman
MEPJAC Co-chairs
