The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) on Wednesday backed Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) following her controversial comments equating the US and Israel with Hamas and the Taliban, Politico reported.
“Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is a valued Member of the Congressional Black Caucus Family, she represents a strong voice on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs,” said a CBC statement quoted by the website.
“Furthermore, we appreciate her clarification of her recent remarks and find that this is another example of Republicans taking it out of context to shift the real attention from the abhorrent, disrespectful, and intemperate remarks of members of their own Conference,” it added.
Omar, who is notorious for past anti-Israel statements, caused an uproar recently when she equated Israel to Hamas and the Taliban.
On June 7, she tweeted a video of her questioning Secretary of State Antony Blinken and saying, “We must have the same level of accountability and justice for all victims of crimes against humanity.”
“We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban,” Omar added. “I asked Secretary Blinken where people are supposed to go for justice.”
In response, 12 of the 25 Jewish Democrats in the US House of Representatives published a statement said the grouping of the United States and Israel with the Taliban and Hamas in remarks about pursuing war crimes prosecutions gives “cover to terrorist groups” and called on Omar to clarify her earlier statements.
Omar then fired back at her Jewish colleagues and said, “It’s shameful for colleagues who call me when they need my support to now put out a statement asking for ‘clarification’ and not just call.”
“The Islamophobic tropes in this statement are offensive. The constant harassment & silencing from the signers of this letter is unbearable,” added Omar.
She later issued another clarification and claimed she had been misunderstood.
Last month, Omar called Israel's retaliations for Gazan rocket fire on civilians an "act of terrorism," but failed to condemn the rockets themselves, or Hamas' use of Gazan civilians as human shields.
She also came under fire in 2019 after she suggested on Twitter that Republicans were attacking her at the behest of the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC.
Omar subsequently issued a half-hearted apology before ultimately deleting the controversial tweets.
In 2019, Israel announced it would bar entry to Omar and fellow Muslim congresswoman Rashida Tlaib over their support for BDS.
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