The Daily Observer London Desk: Reporter- Donna Robert
The House on Thursday removed Rep. Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee for her antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric.
Ms. Omar, a Minnesota Democrat and member of the far-left “Squad,” was kicked off the committee in a party-line 218-211 vote.
Ms. Omar, who came to the U.S. as a Somali refugee and was one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, said she was being targeted by Republicans because she is an immigrant, a Black woman and a Muslim.
“This debate today is about who is going to be an American,” Ms. Omar said in a floor speech before the vote. “There is an idea that you are suspect if you are an immigrant.”
Ms. Omar has been vocal about her opposition to the Israeli government and its supporters, particularly on the issue of Palestinian rights, which led to the allegations of antisemitism.
Republicans said it was Ms. Omar’s rhetoric, which also offended Democratic lawmakers, that got her expelled from the committee. They also conceded that it was, in part, payback for the Democrats in the last Congress kicking Republicans off of committees.
