Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) said that her 2012 tweet accusing Israel of hypnotizing the world “were the only words I could think about expressing” at the time.
Omar tweeted in November 2012, “Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.”
When asked by journalist Christiane Amanpour on Wednesday about that tweet, Omar explained that during the 2012 Israel-Hamas conflict she felt that the media coverage made it seem like “no other life was being impacted” by the conflict.
“Those unfortunate words were the only words I could think about expressing at that moment,” Omar said, “and what is really important to me is that people recognize that there is a difference between criticizing a military action by a government that has exercised really oppressive policies and being offensive or attacking to a particular people of faith.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) defends past anti-Semitic comments she made on Twitter, saying those were "the only words I could think about expressing at that moment" pic.twitter.com/u5G50LXK2f
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) January 16, 2019
When Omar was confronted on Twitter about the tweet in May, she responded, “Drawing attention to the apartheid Israeli regime is far from hating Jews. You are a hateful sad man, I pray to Allah you get the help you need and find happiness.”
Shortly after Omar was elected, she came out in support of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement after saying during the campaign that she was against it. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called Omar’s BDS support “alarming.”
“BDS doesn’t just criticize Israel’s gov., it denies its right to exist as a Jewish State,” the ADL tweeted. “@IlhanMN also said she supports a two-state solution. Rep-Elect Omar, you owe it to your new constituents to clarify your views.”
