Outcry as Muslim American lawmaker likens U.S., Israel to Taliban

All the parties Ilhan Omar mentions are being investigated by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.

And don't give me this nonsense you can't compare Israel to Hamas or America to the Taliban. There's no special exemption under international law for state actors. A war crime is a war crime regardless of the religion, ethnicity or nationality of the war criminal.

If you don't want to be investigated for war crimes, then don't commit war crimes.

Dems falling apart.

the Dem leadership finally had to call her out because she went waaaaay too far this time. She is a political liability.

The genocide against native Americans, Vietnam, etc. demonstrate that the US has committed atrocities. 

And so because the US what literally every country has done throughout history be condemned to die and cease as a nation? ROFL!

Israel’s constant abuse of the human right of the Palestinians and occupying their land demonstrates that Israel had committed atrocities.

So the Jewish in their own birth land are just not allowed to defend themselves and the Palestinians or Hamas wants peace? Let’s not forget about the atrocities of Hamas.

It’s not enjoyable to find your own country’s dirty laundry, but that doesn’t mean there is no dirty laundry.

No one has said that, the US does have blood on its hands, it’s still a great nation if the Democrats stop picking at it like a scraped knee that has a build scab over it.

It’s very strange how “conservatives” excused Trump constantly trashing other countries as, “that’s just Trump,” but want to crucify any Democrat/liberal who voice uncomfortable truths.

No, Trump just wanted countries to be less reliant on the US and I totally agreed while telling other countries they need to look at themselves and their own history when it comes to treatment of minorities and the crimes it has committed over thousands of years, the French, Brits, Spanish, Dutch and the Portuguese all have blood on their hands that have contributed in the building of the Americas. We don’t need the lectures from them or the left in this country. No one is claiming the US is perfect, but the majority of Americans really don’t care what Europe thinks of us. They think what they want about us and we will think what we want about them and still whenever they need our help, we will always be there, that’s the least we can do as a caring superpower.

I mean...ouch for the Dems.

Rashida Tlaib calls out Dem leadership for 'policing' Ihan Omar and Muslim women

Squad stands behind Omar over Israel remarks, despite rebuke from Pelosi

"Freedom of speech doesn't exist for Muslim women in Congress," Tlaib tweeted Thursday shortly after Pelosi and Democratic leaders issued a statement critical of Omar. "The benefit of the doubt doesn't exist for Muslim women in Congress. House Democratic leadership should be ashamed of its relentless, exclusive tone policing of Congresswomen of color."

And don't give me this nonsense you can't compare Israel to Hamas or America to the Taliban.

In this case, we have a right to calling anyone a terrorist if we feel so whether you agree. You can't pick and choose based on those that agree with your politics.

She should be allowed to say what she wants. If her constituents don’t like it they can vote her out. But they won’t as the people who bother to vote in her district predominantly agree with her views on Jews

Anti-Semitic attacks increased sharply in May in the U.S., amid a deadly conflict between Israel and Islamist movement Hamas, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

I wonder why?

This is one of the problems with woke America.

I liken her remark to that of the 1930s Nazis; anyone supporting her should find a brown coat.

It would be interesting to see how this Muslim American would feel if she talked to Muslims living in Israel. There must be some reason they aren't all running away to Lebanon, Syria, or the terrorist led Palestinian Territories.

Maybe she should start a fringe party with MTG. Straight talkers who shoot from the hip and tell it like it is.

Let's coin a new phrase for people like Rep. Omar- "AINO". American In Name Only. She should be on her knees every day thanking whatever diety she believes in that she was allowed to escape the hellhole that Somalia had become and enter the US. A touch of gratitude would be nice...

Let's coin a new phrase for people like Rep. Omar- "AINO". American In Name Only. 

Terrific, more racism.

ES, please explain how what I wrote is racist. I am genuinely curious. Or is that a label you just casually throw around in order to stifle discussion?

zichiToday  09:20 am JST

Except Omar is banned from Israel.

She is still allowed to talk to people there isn't she? I can send her a link to Skype.

And as I have been writing here constantly--now woke libs can hear it from one of their own:

In a written statement, Pelosi, D-Calif., said that “drawing false equivalencies between democracies like the U.S. and Israel and groups that engage in terrorism like Hamas and the Taliban foments prejudice and undermines peace and security for all.

“We welcome the clarification by Congresswoman Omar that there is no moral equivalency between the U.S. and Israel and Hamas and the Taliban,” Pelosi continued.

It had to happen sooner or later, but Omar has now gone and trodden on the sensitive toe of the pro-Israel (right or wrong) Donkey establishment which has always looked the other way whenever the Israelis, like their former persecutors, used asymmetrical, disproportionate violence, predictably resulting in de facto atrocities against Arabs. The biased, one-sided foreign policy of the US pro-Israel establishment has been a disastrous failure for the Middle East and the world. Time is fast running out for the future of a peaceful co-existence between Jews and Arabs in the region.

This is why Omar is fringe.

"I was in no way equating terrorist organizations with democratic countries with well-established judicial systems," she said.

Yes, you were.

ES, please explain how what I wrote is racist. I am genuinely curious. Or is that a label you just casually throw around in order to stifle discussion?

Sure! It explicitly throws doubt on the legitimacy of the citizenship of a non-white citizen by virtue of her views, in a country that has freedom of speech. Linking citizenship - and by extension, personhood - to race, and finding any excuse to deligitimize non-white people as citizens of their country is a long-held tactic of Republicans generally (of late) and white supremacists specifically (forever).

You can see this in action because, when Trump defended Putin in 2017 by saying that America was not innocent, and had committed atrocities (which he was correct about), no-one on the right called him an "American in name only" - in fact, they agreed with him! But then again, he was equating America's bloody history with that of another majority white nation. When someone compares the US to a non-majority white nation, suddenly you see the right asking questions about how to "send them back".

Hi, thanks for your explanation ES. You see though, I did not mention her race or pigmentation, YOU did. Therefore, I did not link race to citizenship. You did. SO who is the actual racist?

Skin color is as irrelevant as eye color in 21st century America. Or at least it should be. I would say the same if "Ilhan Omar" was "Ingrid Olson", a blonde of Swedish extraction- based on her words and actions, not the accident of her birth.

"We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban."

Can any of her critics point out what is false about this statement?

"I was in no way equating terrorist organizations with democratic countries with well-established judicial systems,"

Exactly.

"Rep Omar's anti-Semitic

Anyone who criticizes Israel is anti-Semitic? What a schmuck McCarthy is.

Senator Tom Cotton said Omar, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was "welcome to leave"

What an enlightened patriot Cotton is. I’m sure he would say the same thing to an Israeli immigrant who criticized US foreign policy.

The irony is that as the military force of an occupied people, most of the 'war crimes' Hamas is accused of aren't actually war crimes. On the other hand, as an occupying power, a lot of what the Israeli regime has done that isn't far off acceptable behavior in other circumstances actually are war crimes.

The religions, the ethnicity, the terrorist/formal army statuses have nothing to do with what the usual screamers will be calling discrimination by the ICC, it's all to do with giving people who have been robbed of freedoms a chance to fight for freedom, and realizing those who have robbed people of their freedoms have an 'aggravating factor' attached to every act of violence and injustice they commit.

See, way back when they codified the Geneva Conventions, they didn't know who would be violating them a century later, but they had a pretty good idea of what the mindset of whoever was doing it would be.

Richard, I couldn't agree more.

The Jews were robbed of their freedom for more than 2000 years, denied a homeland, and vilified. Now they can finally fight for their freedom and have the power to protect themselves. There IS an aggravating factor which propels them- the aggravating factor of imminent genocide and terrorism from all sides.

A 2 state solution was rejected by the Arab League in 1948, which was the immediate cause of the Palestinians current problems. So I am happy to see you put the blame where it rightfully belongs.

Hi, thanks for your explanation ES. You see though, I did not mention her race or pigmentation, YOU did.

You didn't need to.

Therefore, I did not link race to citizenship. You did. SO who is the actual racist?

If you're casting doubt on the legitimacy of a black woman's citizenship for exercizing her First Amendment rights, that's a racist thing to do, I'm afraid.

Skin color is as irrelevant as eye color in 21st century America.

This is completely untrue. The first black President caused an entire political party to lose its mind and declare war on democracy. The same party is now rife with white nationalists, many of whom marched in Charlottesville screaming "Jews will not replace us", and "black lives splatter". Many of whom tried to overthrow democracy on January 6. You are living in a fantasy world if you don't think race matters in contemporary America.

Or at least it should be. I would say the same if "Ilhan Omar" was "Ingrid Olson", a blonde of Swedish extraction- based on her words and actions, not the accident of her birth.

No, you wouldn't. You might say, "I disagree with her", or "what a dumb thing to say", but no white person who says things like this has their citizenship challenged. Just look at my above example, with Trump. Or, consider how Obama, born in the US, constantly had his citizenship questioned by right-wingers, including the former President. Ted Cruz, born in Canada, faced no such questions. I wonder why.

Well, I don't, actually. I know why. It's racism.

AttilathehungryToday  09:17 am JST

Let's coin a new phrase for people like Rep. Omar- "AINO". American In Name Only. She should be on her knees every day thanking whatever diety she believes in that she was allowed to escape the hellhole that Somalia had become and enter the US. A touch of gratitude would be nice...

Worth repeating. Libs who prefer their safe spaces cannot deny this.

Worth repeating. Libs who prefer their safe spaces cannot deny this.

It's actually not worth repeating at all. It wasn't worth saying the first time.

America and Israel are not totally free of guilt in their histories. There are still many victims of Agent Orange in Vietnam. 

No one claimed that.

Israel imprisoned hundreds of Palestinians without trial. At the end of September 2020,

Given the history of Hamas and their terrorist attacks on the Jewish nation, they have every reason to protect themselves.

157 Palestinian minors were held in Israeli prisons as security detainees and prisoners, at least two of whom were held in administrative detention. Another 2 Palestinian minors were held in Israel Prison Service facilities for being in Israel illegally. Used illegal weapons. Collective punishment.

I believe the IDF and Mossad would have enough data and Intel to back up the collective detention. If you can ascertain and threat against the Jewish nation,

Very few countries have clean hands.

Exactly!

Omar certainly likes to stir it up.

She should be grateful that she’s lives in the greatest democracy where she can say whatever she wants even if it’s factually or historically wrong.

Hi ES: I think you are looking at things through, not rose colored glasses, but race colored glasses.

I didn't mention Rep. Omar's race or gender because they are irrelevant. Her actions speak louder than her skin tone. You are so busy looking for categories that you cannot see beyond them. The very fact that the US elected (and re-elected) a man with the background of Pres. Obama might just tell you that racism is on the wane. Non-caucasians have held virtually every major office in the US government at one time or another, and that is a good thing. The actions of a vanishingly small number of morons does not erase reality.

You presume to know how I would react if the situation were not tinged with identity politics. You are comfortable in your moral certainty, yet ignore simple facts. I genuinely feel sorry for people who have such a shallow and myopic view of the world.

The "squad" is falling into irrelevance lately so they need to say and do outlandish, provocative stuff to get back into the headlines. First AOC tried to death stare Manchin, now this shock jockey rubbish from Omar lmao

Hi ES: I think you are looking at things through, not rose colored glasses, but race colored glasses.

I'm looking at them through reality-colored glasses.

I didn't mention Rep. Omar's race or gender because they are irrelevant. Her actions speak louder than her skin tone.

Apparently not. As above, when Trump said similar things, no-one on the right objected. In fact, they agreed. Now, you are attempting to delegitimize someone's citizenship because she said something you disagreed with.

You are so busy looking for categories that you cannot see beyond them.

I'm afraid this just isn't true.

The very fact that the US elected (and re-elected) a man with the background of Pres. Obama might just tell you that racism is on the wane. Non-caucasians have held virtually every major office in the US government at one time or another, and that is a good thing. The actions of a vanishingly small number of morons does not erase reality.

This is so naive that I must believe it is the result of your not having had any coffee yet.

You presume to know how I would react if the situation were not tinged with identity politics.

Okay, let's see. Can you name an example of any white politicians whose citizenship you have questioned because you disagreed with them? Can you link to the comment where you cast doubt on, say, Bernie Sanders' citizenship? Thanks in advance.

You are comfortable in your moral certainty, yet ignore simple facts. I genuinely feel sorry for people who have such a shallow and myopic view of the world.

You accuse me of "ignoring simple facts", yet have failed to address the examples of Trump saying something very similar and not being questioned, or of a white senator born in Canada not having his citizenship questioned when a black senator born in the US did.

If I'm myopic, you're being wilfully blind.

Trump? Didn't exactly mention terrorists and the USA in the same sentence.

Cruz? Blowhard. Smart guy but his speaking style grates on me.

Can you find me a white politician, not born in the US, who said similarly stupid and inaccurate things as Rep Omar? Find them and I will call them idiots as well. And call them AINO.

Trump? Didn't exactly mention terrorists and the USA in the same sentence.

Didn't need to. When told that Putin was a killer, and a tyrant, he equated the US with him. And no-one called him an "American in name only".

Cruz? Blowhard. Smart guy but his speaking style grates on me.

You clearly didn't understand what I wrote. I'm not talking about Cruz the man, I'm talking about the difference in the perceived "legitimacy" between Cruz and Obama, where Cruz (who is white) was born abroad, but never had his citizenship questioned, while Obama (who is black) was born in the US, and had his citizenship questioned constantly.

Can you find me a white politician, not born in the US, who said similarly stupid and inaccurate things as Rep Omar?

Why do they have to be born outside the US? A citizen is a citizen. Omar is a citizen. Can

Find them and I will call them idiots as well. And call them AINO.

I'm asking you if you have ever accused someone white of being "American in name only" on this site because you disagreed with them.

The answer is, no, by the way. You haven't. I did a Google search and this is one of only two times the term "American in name only" has been used on this website. The previous time was in an article from 2018, referring to car parts.

AttilathehungryToday  10:53 am JST

Trump? Didn't exactly mention terrorists and the USA in the same sentence. 

Cruz? Blowhard. Smart guy but his speaking style grates on me. 

Can you find me a white politician, not born in the US, who said similarly stupid and inaccurate things as Rep Omar? Find them and I will call them idiots as well. And call them AINO.

Well said.

These Omar sympathizers should listen to their own party leaders at the least.

A group of legislators led by Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., released a statement late Wednesday condemning Omar’s tweet: “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.”

Disheartening and sickening to see all the deep-seated prejudice here.

Can you find me a white politician, not born in the US, who said similarly stupid and inaccurate things as Rep Omar? Find them and I will call them idiots as well. And call them AINO.

Cruz.

I wonder why no Republicans called Cruz, an American citizen not born in America, an "American in name only" when he said that Obama was making the US the leading sponsor of Islamic state terrorism?

Oh well. I guess we'll never know.

Cruz isn't white. He is Hispanic. A member of an oppressed minority, so he needs to be protected.

And as I said, AINO is a new phrase that I just made up on the spur of the moment. Glad it is original.

US congresswoman Ilhan Omar faced broad condemnation Thursday including from her Democratic Party's leadership after the Muslim lawmaker accused the United States and Israel of "unthinkable atrocities" comparable to those of Hamas and the Taliban.

Well, she just said something that there is bilateral agreement on....

I'm sure Marjory Taylor Greene agrees with her House colleague since she's said "Jewish-funded space lasers cause forest fires"....

https://www.vox.com/22256258/marjorie-taylor-greene-jewish-space-laser-anti-semitism-conspiracy-theories

Cruz isn't white. He is Hispanic.

He is white hispanic, yes. That is a thing.

A member of an oppressed minority, so he needs to be protected.

From what? People casting doubt on his citizenship? I agree, I'm glad you've finally come around on this, and will stop casting doubt on the citizenship and/or loyalties of people like Ilhan Omar, just as you wouldn't for Cruz.

And as I said, AINO is a new phrase that I just made up on the spur of the moment. Glad it is original.

It's a bad phrase. Even you have now said you think minorities shouldn't be subjected to people doubting their citizenship. So I'd probably keep my name off the byline of that phrase, if I were you.

Express sisterToday  11:11 am JST

I wonder why no Republicans called Cruz, an American citizen not born in America, an "American in name only" when he said that Obama was making the US the leading sponsor of Islamic state terrorism?

Oh well. I guess we'll never know.

I know.

Because Cruz is American by birth.

Omar isn't.

Alternatively:

Cruz isn't white. He is Hispanic. A member of an oppressed minority, so he needs to be protected.

I see. Could you tell that to the naif above who said this:

Skin color is as irrelevant as eye color in 21st century America.

Sorry I forgot to add /s to my comment. Just trying to play by your rules.

Because Cruz is American by birth.

Omar isn't.

So what? Attilethehungry asked for a white US politician not born in the US. Cruz fits the bill exactly.

Sorry I forgot to add /s to my comment. Just trying to play by your rules.

I see. So you think it's good to cast doubt on Cruz's citizenship - and by extension, personhood - based on offensive things he said. So, do you think he is an "American in name only" for accusing the US of being the biggest state sponsor of Islamic terrorism?

ES: yes. If he did what you said, then he qualifies as AINO.

Conservatives really do love free speech... As long as you don't say bad things about the USA or Isreal. What a bunch of weak babies.

I see! Well, perhaps I was wrong about your comment. I'm happy to accept that.

Do you think Donald Trump - who when confronted with Russia's leadership committing murderous atrocities, said that the US was the same - is also an American in name only?

Expat... except that isn't what happened. How about this analogy?

Two groups of people have been living in an area for centuries. Colonized by outsiders, never given a chance to form a state. Now that chance appears. One group says,"OK, we will take a small sliver of the land, you can have the rest". The other group has big and powerful friends who say, "hey, if you kill all the people in the small group, you can have it ALL". So that is what they try to do.

And fail.

And now we have the consequences. Israel survived the attempted genocide by the Arab League and still was willing to live beside them. 97% of the land in the area is basically Jew free by design. The remaining 3% is shared.

xpatToday  11:58 am JST

So, if someone took your property at gunpoint and then told you that they had another place you could live, but that you'd have no say in where it was, and that you'd leave home immediately with nothing but the clothes on your back and not right to return, you'd consider that fair?

The UN took the Palestinian Arabs' property at gunpoint?

Fighting began with attacks by irregular bands of Palestinian Arabs attached to local units of the Arab Liberation Army composed of volunteers from Palestine and neighboring Arab countries. These groups launched their attacks against Jewish cities, settlements, and armed forces. 

And then Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Egypt. Saudi Arabia joined in and attacked Israel.

There were a lot of attempts to take Israel's property at gunpoint, that is true.

Lots of people have opinions about what constitutes a war crime, or a crime against humanity. Lots of people have opinions about who is considered to be part of the legal population of Israel, and who has the right to determine the future of East Palestine and West Palestine including East Jerusalem/alQuds.

But there's only one opinion that counts on those questions, and that is the opinion of the ICC.

And if you read the opinions (or legal rulings to give them their real name) the ICC has published so far, you'll find that they contradict several of the most strident disagreers with my opinion.

Conservatives really do love free speech... As long as you don't say bad things about the USA or Isreal. What a bunch of weak babies.

No, we love free speech and people can say what they want, but Omar came to America and she became an American citizen, prospered and got a seat in the House of Representatives and how does she show her gratitude? She bashes the country that gave her everything, if she thinks the US is that bad, she can always leave. It’s not about being weak, Europe whines all the time. We need to be more like them. WRONG! No, we do not. If you love America show it and millions of immigrants have and if you don’t don’t, no one is forcing you to stay. Can you take the good with the bad and you have to look at the good things as well as just only focus on the bad things and Omar, given her position she should definitely be talking about the good things that happened in her personal life, I will be so happy when she will be replaced in Congress.

She bashes the country that gave her everything, if she thinks the US is that bad, she can always leave

Like you.

No, we love free speech and people can say what they want, but Omar came to America and she became an American citizen, prospered and got a seat in the House of Representatives and how does she show her gratitude?

Why exactly would she need to "show her gratitude"? I thoughr conservatives were all about "pulling yourself by your bootstraps" and all that Ayn Rand type of stuff. By the conservative's own worldview, Ilhan Omar got to where she was on her own, why would she need to thank anyone?

No, we love free speech.....

As long as it's not Liz Cheney....

She bashes the country that gave her everything....

Hmmmm....

President Donald Trump appeared to equate US actions with the authoritarian regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin in an interview released Saturday, saying, "There are a lot of killers. You think our country's so innocent?"

https://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/04/politics/donald-trump-vladimir-putin/index.html

If you love America show it and millions of immigrants have....

Like those illegal immigrants employed at Mar-A-Lago, Trump Tower, and Bedminster being paid a substandard wage...