Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) slammed Israel for firing retaliatory air strikes into the Gaza Strip, saying the moves should be considered “an act of terrorism.”
“Israeli air strikes killing civilians in Gaza is an act of terrorism. Palestinians deserve protection,” Omar tweeted. “Unlike Israel, missile defense programs, such as Iron Dome, don’t exist to protect Palestinian civilians.”
“It’s unconscionable to not condemn these attacks on the week of Eid.”
Israeli air strikes killing civilians in Gaza is an act of terrorism.
Palestinians deserve protection.
Unlike Israel, missile defense programs, such as Iron Dome, don’t exist to protect Palestinian civilians.
It’s unconscionable to not condemn these attacks on the week of Eid. https://t.co/vWWQfMqBkT
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) May 10, 2021
Despite receiving backlash from conservatives, Omar doubled down.
“Many will tell you Israel has a right to defend itself, to safety and security, but are silent on whether Palestinians have those rights too,” Omar tweeted. “Until we can defend the rights of Palestinians just as we do Israelis, we have no leg to stand on when it comes to justice or peace.”
Many will tell you Israel has a right to defend itself, to safety and security, but are silent on whether Palestinians have those rights too.
Until we can defend the rights of Palestinians just as we do Israelis, we have no leg to stand on when it comes to justice or peace.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) May 10, 2021
Fellow “Squad” member Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) shared similar sentiments as Omar.
“I was 7 years old when I first prayed at the Al Aqsa with my sity [sic]. It’s a sacred site for Muslims. This is equivalent to attacking the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians, or the Temple Mount for Jews,” Tlaib tweeted. “Israel attacks it during Ramadan. Where’s the outrage @POTUS?”
I was 7 years old when I first prayed at the Al Aqsa with my sity. It's a sacred site for Muslims. This is equivalent to attacking the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians, or the Temple Mount for Jews.
Israel attacks it during Ramadan. Where's the outrage @POTUS? https://t.co/Q4gGBrCOof
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) May 10, 2021
As The Daily Wire reported, Hamas launched more than a dozen rockets into Israel on Monday, which is also known as Yom Yerushalayim Day:
Yom Yerushalyim celebrates the Jews taking Jerusalem back in the 1967 Six-Day War. It commemorates the reunification of Jerusalem and the establishment of Israeli control over the Old City, where the Temple Mount is located.
According to CNN, the Israeli army launched the airstrikes in response to Hamas’ attacks.
“After terrorists in Gaza fired a barrage of rockets at central and southern Israel over the past few hours, we just struck three Hamas terrorists in Gaza,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told CNN in a statement.
IDF shared a post on Twitter, saying, “Over 150 rockets fired from Gaza toward Israel since 6 PM today, May 10.”
This needs to be shared. pic.twitter.com/Us8XgycHPu
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 10, 2021
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration is “continuing to closely monitor” the situation taking place.
“We are continuing to closely monitor the violence in Israel. We have serious concerns about the situation, including violent confrontations that we’ve seen over the last few days. As you noted, an escalation earlier today,” Psaki said during Monday’s press briefing, according to Fox News.
“In a call over the weekend with his Israeli counterpart, our national security advisor Jake Sullivan reiterated concerns about the potential evictions of Palestinian families from their homes. And they agreed that the launching of rocket attacks and incendiary balloons from Gaza towards Israel is unacceptable and must be condemned,” Psaki stated. “So this is something that our national security team is closely monitoring, obviously across government. Certainly, the president is kept abreast and is watching closely as well.”
Omar has been accused of making anti-Semitic comments in the past. Instead of saying terrorists carried out 9/11, which killed roughly 3,000 innocent Americans, Omar said “some people did something.”
In another instance, Omar made an anti-Israel remark, suggesting that Israel wasn’t a democracy, as The Daily Wire noted:
“Most of the things that have always been aggravating to me is that we have had a policy that makes one superior to the other and we mask it with a conversation that’s about justice and a two-state solution when you have policies that clearly prioritize one over the other,” Omar responded.
When pressed for examples, Omar responded: “Our relationship, really with the Israeli government and the Israeli state.”
“And so when I see Israel institute, um, law that recognizes it as a Jewish state and does not recognize, um, the other religions that are living in it and we still uphold it as a democracy in the Middle East, I almost chuckle because I know that if, you know, we, we, we, we see that in any other society we would criticize it.”
“We would call it out,” Omar continued. “We do that to Iran.”