The Minnesota congresswoman faced fire over Israel and fury over her treatment of Trump official Elliott Abrams

'I know what intolerance looks like': Ilhan Omar takes her turn in the spotlight

'I know what intolerance looks like': Ilhan Omar takes her turn in the spotlight

Ilhan Omar made history in January when she became the first Somali American and one of the first Muslim women sworn into the US Congress.

Democratic party elites silence Ilhan Omar at their peril | Trita Parsi and Stephen Wertheim Read more

Part of a historically diverse crop of candidates elected in the 2018 midterms, the hijab-wearing Minnesotan has become one of the faces of change in Donald Trump’s America, a country she entered as a 12-year-old refugee.

But in less than two months, she has also found herself at the center of controversy, reckoning with the scrutiny that accompanies the national spotlight.

This week, Omar was forced to apologize for comments that Democratic leaders said contained “antisemitic tropes and prejudicial accusations”. Days later, her intense grilling of Elliott Abrams, a Trump official and longtime establishment figure, sparked headlines once again.

Omar has emerged as a key bogeyman for Republicans, who have relentlessly attacked her views on Israeli-Palestinian relations.

The congresswoman apologized for the things that she said that were problematic and insensitive Logan Bayroff, J Street

“Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has quickly created a reputation for herself as a young, bold progressive willing to take on and challenge some of Washington DC’s sacred cows, powerful interest groups and conservative godfathers like Elliot Abrams,” said Wajahat Ali, a New York Times opinion writer and commentator.

“This is why her diverse base elected her, why she continues to inspire progressives and it’s a testament to what they expect from her – demanding accountability, oversight and calling everyone out, unapologetically.”

But, Ali added, “she’s learning it goes both ways”. He also noted that Omar’s brush with controversy “shows she’s a bit green and needs to be more sensitive with her language”.

“She apologized, it seems she gets it,” he said. “But, there’s also a target on her because she’s Muslim and black woman. Let’s not fool ourselves.”

Since her ascent to Congress, Omar’s positions on Israel, one of America’s closest allies, have stirred controversy for breaking with longstanding tradition in Washington.

Omar has backed the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction movement, or BDS, which is designed to pressure Israel into ending the occupation of the West Bank. She has said she “almost chuckle[s]” when US politicians uphold Israel as a democratic example. But a recent tweet suggesting US support for Israel is motivated by political donations invited backlash from both parties.

Play Video 2:02 Ilhan Omar grills Trump’s Venezuela envoy over past – video

“It’s all about the Benjamins, baby,” Omar tweeted in response to a Republican leader vowing action against her and Rashida Tlaib, another Muslim congresswoman, over their criticism of the Israeli government.

The comment invoked the $100 bill, which features Benjamin Franklin, and led a Jewish journalist to ask Omar who she believed was “paying American politicians to be pro-Israel”. She pointed to the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), an influential pro-Israel lobby group that does not contribute to political campaigns but does fund educational trips to Israel for members of Congress and staff members.

Following a rebuke from party leaders, Omar apologized “unequivocally” and said she had not intended to perpetuate Jewish stereotypes. She nonetheless stood by her argument that the “problematic role of lobbyists” in US politics must be addressed.

On Friday, Omar gave her first interview since the controversy, telling her hometown newspaper, the Star-Tribune of Minneapolis: “I know what intolerance looks like.”

She added: “The thing that has been hurtful about this whole process for me is knowing that I could be someone who could use language that causes hurt to others.”

Omar’s efforts to make amends for her comments were dismissed by Republicans, who blasted press releases linking other Democrats to her in an attempt to label the whole party as antisemitic.

Trump said Omar should resign while Vice-President Mike Pence said she should at a minimum be removed from the House foreign affairs committee. Those assertions invited charges of hypocrisy.

In 2017, after white supremacists marched in Charlottesville, Virginia chanting, among other slogans, “Jews will not replace us”, and after a counterprotester was killed, the president infamously declared there were “very fine people on both sides”. During the 2016 election, he defended his campaign’s use of image featuring Hillary Clinton’s face over a six-point star and a pile of $100 bills.

Critics were also quick to note that Republicans only recently punished Steve King, an Iowa representative with a long history of making overtly racist remarks.

Logan Bayroff, communications director at J Street, a progressive pro-Israel group, said the fallout from Omar’s comments amounted to a “dangerous oversimplification and political weaponization” of the issues at hand.

“The congresswoman apologized for the things that she said that were problematic and insensitive,” he said. “And yet certainly from the rightwing and the Republican side of the aisle, there is a desire to try to exploit these controversies not to actually address questions of antisemitism and not to actually advance a better policy debate or outcomes, but to score political points.”

‘It wasn’t a question’

Omar’s tense exchange with Abrams, Trump’s envoy to Venezuela, fell into a similar trap. At a House foreign affairs committee hearing, Omar pressed Abrams over his past, including his role in the Iran-Contra scandal and support for brutal governments in Central America.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Elliott Abrams is met by protesters as he testifies before the House foreign affairs committee. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

“Mr Abrams,” she said, “in 1991 you pleaded guilty to two counts of withholding information from Congress regarding the Iran-Contra affair, for which you were later pardoned by President George HW Bush. I fail to understand why members of this committee or the American people should find any testimony you give today to be truthful.”

Ilhan Omar takes Trump's Venezuela envoy to task over his political past Read more

When Abrams attempted to respond, Omar shot back: “It wasn’t a question.”

Conservatives condemned Omar’s treatment of a veteran US diplomat who has long advised prominent Republicans. Progressives celebrated Omar’s questioning, which went viral as a rare example of a member of the Washington elite being taken to task.

Patrick Iber, an assistant professor of history at the University of Wisconsin, said it was “entirely appropriate” to press Abrams on his work in the Reagan years.

“The Reagan administration’s policies in Central America were responsible for really substantial violence and suffering and Abrams’ role in that was to certify that human rights progress was being made by US-supported regimes,” Iber said. “That meant, in essence, that he disqualified and discredited evidence to the contrary, including the terrible massacre at El Mozote in El Salvador.”

Phil Gunson, a researcher and political analyst for Crisis Group, said it would be “unthinkable” to not raise Abrams’ past at a hearing focusing on another controversial Latin America policy issue over which he has control.

Ilhan Omar is a Somali refugee. She has felt the ravages of war Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

“In that regard, I think Omar was absolutely right to recall that this is a public official with a record of lying to Congress,” he said.

Although Gunson found Omar to be “ill-informed” on the situation in Venezuela, and how it differed from Guatemala and El Salvador in the 1980s, he said it was incumbent on lawmakers to ask tough questions of officials tasked with overseeing US policy.

“Given his past record, I for one am not encouraged that the man chosen by the Trump administration to oversee the restoration of democracy in Venezuela is Elliott Abrams,” Gunson said.

Omar’s posture has nonetheless left Democrats in Congress divided, with some voicing public concerns over the congresswoman’s rhetoric and tone.

But House speaker Nancy Pelosi, after meeting with Omar to address her tweets and the latter’s apology, signaled it was time to move on – at least for now.

“A newcomer member of Congress has apologized for her remarks,” Pelosi told CNN. “It took [Republicans] what, 13 years to notice Steve King?”