Facebook determined that an advertisement about Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar doesn’t violate its standards, even though her office said it’s false and could lead to threats.
The advertisement in question, from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, showed the Minnesota Democrat’s face superimposed on to a rocket from Hamas, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization, with the caption that read: “When Israel targets Hamas, Rep. Omar calls it an act of terrorism.”
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The quote is a distortion of a May 10 tweet from Omar in which she said, “Israeli air strikes killing civilians in Gaza is an act of terrorism.”
https://twitter.com/IlhanMN/status/1391841207588999168?s=20Omar’s office reached out to Facebook about the “misleading” advertisement Tuesday, according to the Washington Post. Her office told the social media platform that the post “peddles both hate speech and misinformation.”
“Given the number of threats of death and violence the Congresswoman receives on a near-daily basis, it’s not just irresponsible — its incitement,” Omar’s deputy communications director, Isi Baehr-Breen, said in a statement, the Hill reported. “Facebook should immediately remove these ads which blatantly peddle both anti-Muslim hate speech and disinformation, and AIPAC should apologize.”
Omar also called the advertisement “desperate and deeply offensive” on social media.
The congresswoman’s staff warned that similar images have inspired death threats against her.
Facebook ruled that the advertisement did not violate any of its guidelines, though it would be eligible to be fact-checked, and the platform rejects false advertisements, said Facebook spokesman Andy Stone, the Washington Post reported.
AIPAC defended the advertisement, characterizing it as “fair and accurate.”
“The ad concerning Representative Omar is completely fair and accurate,” AIPAC spokesman Marshall Wittmann said in a statement. “It is not a personal attack but highlights her outrageous characterization of Israel’s efforts at self defense as ‘terrorism.’ Israel targets Hamas terrorists, not civilians.”
Hamas, the militant group based in Gaza, has fought with the Israeli military over the past two weeks in the latest flare-up that left hundreds of Palestinians, militants included, and a handful of Israelis dead. The two sides agreed to a cease-fire Thursday.
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Omar, who has become one of the most vocal Palestinian advocates on Capitol Hill, has been the target of similar advertisements.
Then-Republican congressional candidate Marjorie Taylor Greene posted an advertisement with Omar and two other members of the “Squad,” Democrats Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib, next to her as she held a rifle. The caption read: “Squad’s worse nightmare.”
Omar, at the time, called it an“incitement” of violence, and the platform took it down.
