The Somali-born United States Congresswoman from the state of Minnesota, Ilhan Omar with the support of more than two dozen members of Congress belonging to the Democratic party has asked the State Department to create a special envoy to fight Islamophobia.
According to Omar, the attacks against Muslims worldwide have increased, and she said “We must all stand united against this horrific rise in hate and I am working on legislation to formalize this position.”
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and 24 other members of Congress asked the State Department on Wednesday to create a special envoy to combat Islamophobia amid a rise in discrimination against Muslims on Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/Wq1xnA2tiM
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 22, 2021
With the help of her liberal Democratic lawmakers, Omar has sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week urging him to develop a US strategy for combating Islamophobia around the world and she also wants the State Department’s annual human rights reports to start including details on “state-sponsored Islamophobic violence and impunity for Islamophobic violence.”
“It is past time for the United States to stand firmly in favor of religious freedom for all, and to give the global problem of Islamophobia the attention and prioritization it deserves,” wrote the lawmakers.
Omar was joined by her fellow Minnesota delegation member Rep. Dean Phillips who signed the letter, based on a new report from the Council on American Islamic Relations that has documented more than 500 complaints of hate crimes against Muslims in 2021 in the form of vandalism and acts of violence targeting mosques in recent months.
However, Omar is riddled with controversy when she said the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks were carried out by “Some people did something,” and by saying that completely absolved the involvement of Islamic terrorists who carried out the attack and insulted the death of over 3,000 Americans and people from other nationalities.
Omar was also rebuked by her own democratic colleagues when she made the anti-Israel and anti-semitic comments in 2019 when she said the money was behind support for Israel and was forced to apologise.
In June 2021, Omar in a tweet said, “we have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the US, Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban.
These false equivalencies were condemned by New York Democrat Jerry Nadle who in a statement said, “Equating the United States and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban is as offensive as it is misguided. Ignoring the differences between democracies governed by the rule of law and contemptible organizations that engage in terrorism at best discredits one’s intended argument and at worst reflects deep-seated prejudice and false equivalencies give cover to terrorist groups,”.
However, instead of retracting her statement and apologising, Omar called this an attack on her for being a Muslim and hit back by saying that this is shameful and accused her own colleagues who wrote this letter of engaging in “islamophobic tropes”.
Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.