From the Liveblog of
Sunday, July 8, 2018
Democratic House candidate pushes back on anti-Semitism accusations
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleA Somali-American Muslim woman running to succeed Democratic Congressman Keith Ellison in Minnesota has pushed back against accusations of anti-Semitism over comments she made against Israel.
In a 2012 tweet, Minnesota State Representative Ilhan Omar accused Israel of “evil doings” as the Israeli military carried out an aerial campaign meant to halt rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip by Hamas and other terror groups.
“Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel,” she wrote at the time.
Amid heightened scrutiny over the tweet as she runs for the congressional seat in Minnesota’s 5th district, Omar told ABC News on Sunday she is not anti-Semitic and accused critics of “bigotry.”
“These accusations are without merit. They are rooted in bigotry toward a belief about what Muslims are stereotyped to believe,” she said, without retracting her claims from the 2012 tweet.
The Times of Israel Community.