Rep. Ilhan Omar says the United States, along with Hamas, the Taliban, and others, has committed “unspeakable atrocities,” in her latest critique of the U.S.
The Minnesota Democrat, who says the U.S. has yet to achieve social justice, compared the nation to the two groups designated as “foreign terrorist organizations” by the U.S. Department of State.
“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,” she tweeted on Monday. “I asked @SecBlinken where people are supposed to go for justice.”
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.
I asked @SecBlinken where people are supposed to go for justice. pic.twitter.com/tUtxW5cIow
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) June 7, 2021
In an accompanying video from Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s Monday testimony before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Omar questioned Blinken about the possible recourse for victims of crimes amid the conflicts in the Middle East if the U.S. opposes the investigations of the International Criminal Court, an international tribunal based in The Hague, noting that she hasn’t “seen any evidence … that domestic courts both can and will prosecute alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
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Blinken responded that it is “impossible not to be profoundly moved” by the loss of life in the region before arguing the ICC does not have jurisdiction over these cases.
“We continue to believe that absent a [United Nations] Security Council referral or absent the request by the state itself, that that’s not appropriate. I continue to believe that whether it is the United States or Israel, both of us have the meetings,” he said.
After Omar again pushed about what options alleged victims have for pursuing justice, Blinken said he believed both the U.S. and Israel “have the mechanisms to make sure that there is accountability in any situations where there are concerns about the use of force and human rights.”
When the congresswoman pressed Blinken on the options for those in Afghanistan, the secretary reiterated that there are “the means if there are any cases to be brought to adjudicate them and to find justice.”
Omar has been highly critical of Israel, calling the nation an “apartheid” state amid the conflict with Hamas, accusing the state of “terrorism.”
“Israeli air strikes killing civilians in Gaza is an act of terrorism,” she tweeted last month.
After President Joe Biden opened a dialogue with Israel regarding the situation, Omar accused the White House of “siding with an oppressive occupation” and demanded Biden intervene to halt Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.
“This is happening on our dime,” she said. “President Biden needs to step in and deescalate to stop the carnage.”
The conflict between Israel and Hamas has been volatile in recent weeks, with more than 4,000 rockets fired in the Gaza Strip last month. At least 232 Palestinians were killed, including 65 children and 39 women, while more than 1,900 sustained injuries, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, and twelve were slain in Israel.
The rocket fire, which started on May 10 and lasted for 11 days, ended in a ceasefire.
In Afghanistan, the U.S. is preparing for a withdrawal of all troops, to be completed by Sept. 11, even as the Taliban signals unwillingness to negotiate a peace deal with the U.S.-backed central government.
“The Taliban need to show an equal commitment to talking very honestly in a straightforward way to try to find a political solution as we go forward,” Marine Corps Gen. Frank McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, told reporters Monday. “I think the government of Afghanistan is willing to do that. I’m not sure the Taliban is willing to do that. And unfortunately, time is now becoming very short.”
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U.S. Central Command announced on June 1 that 30% to 44% of the withdraw is complete, a range given as a security precaution, though the Defense Department declined to say how many of the 3,000 U.S. troops have been removed from the country.
More than 2,000 U.S. military personnel were killed in the fighting of Afghanistan, and tens of thousands more have suffered injuries in the nearly 20-year conflict.
