Rep. Ilhan Omar on Wednesday issued a lengthy statement highlighting the historic ties between the Black and the Jewish communities and said she’s committed to finding “solidarity” with both her Jewish and non-Jewish colleagues to fight injustices.
The Minnesota Democrat’s unifying Twitter message came a day after facing backlash from an interview where she said some of her Jewish House Democratic colleagues “haven’t been partners in justice.”
Omar on Wednesday seemed to soften her tone following the interview and drew similarities between her experience as a Muslim refugee and that of Jewish Americans escaping persecution. She said she wants to find common bonds with her colleagues because “what unites us is so much greater than what divides us.”
“Most of my colleagues across Congress may not be refugees themselves, but fleeing war and persecution only to find a refuge in the United States of America—*is* the Jewish-American experience,” Omar said during a long Twitter thread. “This binds us.”
In an interview with CNN Tuesday, Omar expressed zero regret for comparing Israel to internationally recognized terrorist organizations Hamas and the Taliban – a remark that was called out by House leadership and condemned by her Jewish Democratic colleagues.
Omar said during the interview that she did not regret her tweet from earlier this month in which she lumped Israel, the U.S., Hamas, and the Taliban together. When asked if she knows why fellow Democrats – particularly Jewish members of Congress – found previous comments of hers about Israel to be anti-Semitic, Omar accused them of not being “partners in justice” while claiming that she herself “knows what it feels like to experience injustice in ways that many of my colleagues don’t.”
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Following sharp criticism for her comments, Omar on Wednesday went on to laud the efforts of specific Jewish leaders who worked with Black leaders to fight for civil rights. She also praised Jewish groups in her district for “reminding us that the Jewish community have always been on the frontlines of social change, even amidst threats to their safety.”
Fox News’ Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report.
