Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) included the United States on a list of countries and organizations that have committed "unthinkable atrocities."
In a Monday tweet, Omar listed "the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban" as perpetrators of "crimes against humanity," comparing the United States to the militants who recently waged a deadly 11-day war on Israel and the group that harbored the terrorists responsible for the 9/11 attacks.
We must have the same level of accountability and justice for all victims of crimes against humanity.
We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban.
I asked @SecBlinken where people are supposed to go for justice. pic.twitter.com/tUtxW5cIow
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) June 7, 2021
Omar tweeted the claim alongside a video of her asking Secretary of State Antony Blinken if "domestic courts" were sufficient to "prosecute war crimes" committed by "both Israeli security forces and Hamas."
Omar's post received pushback on Twitter. Joel M. Petlin, the schools superintendent of Kiryas Joel, N.Y., wrote, "When you can't tell the difference between democratic countries … and a registered terrorist organization that executes dissenters in the streets, you have no business sitting as a representative of Americans in the US Congress."
When you can't tell the difference between democratic countries that operate justice courts under the rule of law, and a registered terrorist organization that executes dissenters in the streets, you have no business sitting as a representative of Americans in the US Congress.
— Joel M. Petlin (@Joelmpetlin) June 8, 2021
"Apparently, Ilhan Omar thinks America is as bad as the terrorists who brought down the Twin Towers," said National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Berg. "Every House Democrat should condemn Omar's disgusting comments."
The tweet is far from the first time Omar has attracted controversy. She has repeatedly peddled anti-Semitic tropes, tweeting in 2012 that "Israel has hypnotized the world" and in 2019 that support for the Jewish state was "all about the Benjamins." She has blamed the United States for everything from floods in other countries to "state-sanctioned murder."
While blaming the United States and Israel is customary for the controversial congresswoman, Omar has not always had such harsh words for terrorists. In a 2019 speech to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, she referred to the 9/11 terror attacks, committed by the Taliban-allied terror group al Qaeda, as "something" done by "some people."