Hundreds of protesters gathered in Times Square to demand Rep. Ilhan Omar be removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
“I’m not Islamophobic, I’m Ilhan-phobic!” organizer Joe Diamond told the crowd at the Monday rally. The event, put on by a group of Jewish Americans called “Ilhan Must Go,” seeks to get the freshman Minnesota congresswoman removed from her post of the Foreign Affairs for comments they say are anti-Semitic and anti-American.
“In her brief political career, Omar has made one vile statement after another attacking American Jews, America’s allies, and America’s troops fighting overseas. She’s trivialized the worst act of terror ever perpetrated on American soil, and has blamed the United States for Venezuela’s criminal collapse,” the group said in a statement before the rally.
“Ilhan and her clique are well aware of what we are doing,” Diamond said. “And we’re not done. Everyone left really energized — ready to do whatever must be done next.”
The group originally planned to reveal a Times Square billboard opposing Omar; but lacking funding, they opted for a smaller LED screen on the side of a truck.
A counterprotest in support of Omar was held across the street from the main event by the progressive Jewish organization “IfNotNow.”
Omar has a long history of controversial comments on Israel, Jews, and U.S. foreign policy.
In 2012, Omar tweeted that “Israel has hypnotized the world.”
“May Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel,” she said.
After her election in 2018, Omar claimed that the American-Israel Political Action Committee was buying support for Israel from U.S. politicians. After criticism from both Republicans and Democrats, Omar backtracked and said the comments were anti-Semitic.
In February, Omar was criticized for playing on the anti-Semitic dual-loyalty trope, saying certain people were pushing for “allegiance” to Israel. She refused to apologize and doubled and said she “should not be expected to have allegiance/pledge support to a foreign country in order to serve my country in Congress or serve on committee.”
In March, Omar headlined a fundraising banquet for the Council on American-Islamic Relations where she referred to 9/11 as “some people did something.” Her comments were slammed by President Trump and other Republicans who said she was downplaying the tragedy of the terrorist attack.
In May, Omar conducted an interview where she blamed the U.S. for the situation in Venezuela.
“You know, I mean, a lot of the policies that we have put in place has kind of helped lead the devastation in Venezuela. And we’ve sort of set the stage for where we’re arriving today,” she said.
Later in the month, Omar defended Palestinians after Hamas terrorists fired rockets on Israel.
