Ilhan Omar Shouldn’t Be In Congress

Jaelynn Barberi

Anti-Semitism in Congress

Anti-Semitism in congress is a hot topic right now. Ilhan omar has been in the news a lot with it. Ilhan Omar is a Somali-American democratic representative serving Minnesota's 5th congressional district. In February, she deleted two tweets​ ​criticizing the influence of a pro-Israel lobbying group following the controversy over the tweets and accusations from some Democrats and Republicans that the messages were in fact anti-Semitic. These tweets even angered many Democrats, which did not look good for the party. The New York Times even wrote that “Left wing anti-Semitism is a gift to the right”.

In the two tweets, Omar wrote that US. politicians' defense of Israel's government in the political square was "all about the Benjamins baby," while adding that AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) was responsible for funding the lawmakers who support the pro-Israel policy when questioned on her stance. Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel criticized Omar over the deletion of her tweets.

In a tweet, she accused the "boycott, divestment and sanctions" (BDS) movement, which Omar supports and encourages. "Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar is deleting her anti-Semitic tweets, but deleting tweets doesn’t change that she still supports the anti-Semitic BDS movement to boycott and delegitimize Israel," McDaniel tweeted. Shortly after the messages that Rep. Omar wrote, President trump stated that she would resign. Why do we have Rep. Omar in office after this?