Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attributed the ban to Israeli law preventing the entry of people who call for a boycott of Israel (as Omar and Tlaib had done with their support for BDS). On July 18, 2023, she voted against a congressional non-binding resolution proposed by August Pfluger, which states that “the State of Israel is not a racist or apartheid state”, that Congress rejects “all forms of antisemitism and xenophobia”, and that “the United States will always be a staunch partner and supporter of Israel”. When journalist Glenn Greenwald responded that it was remarkable “how much time U.S. political leaders spend defending a foreign nation even if it means attacking free speech rights of Americans”, and tagged Omar for a comment, she replied with a quote from a hip hop song, “It’s All About the Benjamins”, alluding to a slang term for U.S. $100 bills. In February 2019, Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy threatened to “take action” against Omar and Rashida Tlaib for their support of the BDS movement. In a 2012 tweet, she wrote, “Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.” The comment, particularly that Israel had “hypnotized the world”, was criticized as drawing on antisemitic tropes.

Conservative campaigns have explicitly invoked Omar’s Somali heritage and immigrant background as political weapons — including calls for deportation and public posts telling her to “go back” — which her defenders and some news outlets frame as xenophobic or racially charged tactics meant to delegitimize her role as a U.S. representative . On November 17, 2020, Omar’s campaign terminated its contract with Mynett’s firm, saying the termination was to “make sure that anybody who is supporting our campaign with their time or financial support feels there is no perceived issue with that support.” She was organizing the event and was a policy aide to Minneapolis City Councilman Andrew Johnson at the time. In May 2020, Omar signed a letter backed by AIPAC calling for the continuation of the UN embargo against Iran, with her office noting that it was a “narrow ask that we couldn’t find anything wrong with.” Her office said that she has opposed human rights abuse “for a long time” and that signing onto it should be not be seen as a sign she supports the Trump administration’s policy on Iran. In response, Omar reaffirmed her position, insisting that she “should not be expected to have allegiance/pledge support to a foreign country in order to serve my country in Congress or serve on committee.” Omar said she was simply criticizing Israel, drawing a distinction between criticism of Benjamin Netanyahu and being anti-Semitic.

Following her education, Omar worked as a community organizer and policy analyst for various organizations, including Women Organizing Women Network. Ilhan Omar and her family came to New York as refugees in 1995, and then they moved to Arlington, Virginia. Her family’s community involvement had a big impact on her early years. She also serves on the House Education and Workforce Committee, where she is a member of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections and Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, Pensions (HELP). The family spent four years in a refugee camp in Kenya before coming to the United States in 1990s.

Democrat leaders telling military members to defy illegal orders is ‘dangerous’: Rep. Pat Fallon

• She also serves on the House Education and Workforce Committee, where she is a member of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections and Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, Pensions (HELP).
• She has backed resolutions that support the freedom to follow any religion.
• Less than two hours before the ban, President Trump tweeted that Israel allowing the visit would “show great weakness” when Omar and Tlaib “hate Israel & all Jewish people”.
• Omar responded that the attorney’s fees were not personal but campaign-related; she offered to return the speaking fees.

Less than two hours before the ban, President Trump tweeted that Israel allowing the visit would “show great weakness” when Omar and Tlaib “hate Israel & all Jewish people”. In May 2024, Omar voiced support for the International Criminal Court investigation in Palestine, saying that the ICC “must be allowed to conduct its work independently and without interference.” In August 2024, she criticized the Biden administration’s arms shipments to Israel, saying that “if you really want a ceasefire, you just stop sending the weapons.” She criticized the United States’ support for Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip. On February 2, 2023, the Republican-led House of Representatives passed a resolution, on a party-line vote, to remove Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee for what Speaker Kevin McCarthy called “repeated antisemitic and anti-American remarks.” Many prominent House Democrats stood by Omar. After objections by a number of congressional progressive Democrats, the resolution was amended to include Islamophobia, racism, and homophobia. Kirsten Gillibrand said, “those with critical views of Israel should be able to express their views without employing anti-Semitic tropes about money or influence”, but also criticized the Republican Party for censuring Omar while saying “little or nothing” when President Trump “defended white supremacists at Charlottesville.” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called Omar’s remarks “unacceptable”.

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar Announces New Endorsements from House Democratic Leadership

She compared the movement to people who “engaged in boycotts” of apartheid in South Africa. While she was in the Minnesota legislature, Omar was critical of the Israeli government and opposed a law prohibiting the state from working with companies that support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Omar accused Politico of distorting her comments and said that she had been “saying how President Trump is different from Obama, and why we should focus on policy not politics,” adding, “One is human, the other is really not.” In November, after her controversial vote, Omar publicly condemned the Armenian genocide at a rally for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. She chicken road app download said in a statement that “accountability and recognition of genocide should not be used as cudgel in a political fight” and argued that such a step should include both the Atlantic slave trade and the Native American genocide.

Ilhan Omar Age, Husband, Children, Family, Biography

Omar faced tough challenges early in her political career, including being physically attacked at a Minneapolis School Board meeting by supporters of Phyllis Kahn, which left her with injuries. Her strong desire to make positive changes in people’s lives motivated her to pursue a career in public office. Upon Omar’s return to Minneapolis in 2012, she started a job as a nutrition specialist for the Minnesota department of nutrition, and she began volunteering for political campaigns. In 2020 she married Tim Mynett, a political consultant who had worked with Omar’s campaigns.

In a statement, the Minneapolis mayor said they planned to work to address “systemic racism in police culture”. On July 6, 2023, President Biden authorized the provision of cluster munitions to Ukraine in support of a Ukrainian counter-offensive against Russian forces in Russian-occupied southeastern Ukraine. In August 2019, Omar wrote on Twitter in support of the Palestinian LGBT rights group Al Qaws after the Palestinian Authority banned Al Qaws’s activities in the West Bank. Both Democratic and Republican legislators criticized the ban and requested that Israel rescind it.

In 1997 the family relocated to Minneapolis, living in the neighborhood of Cedar-Riverside, the home of many Somali immigrants. They lived there for four years until the United States granted Omar and her family asylum in 1995. In 1991 the start of the Somalian Civil War upended their lives, forcing the family to flee to a refugee camp in Kenya when Omar was eight years old. Omar was born in Mogadishu, Somalia, the youngest of seven children. In 2024 Omar comfortably won reelection against Republican challenger Dalia Al-Aqidi. House of Representatives, she became the first African refugee and one of the first two Muslim American women to be elected to Congress and the first woman of color to represent Minnesota.

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To that end, she supports individuals and organizations that lead with love and unapologetically center Black & Indigenous femmes to support collective change, healing, and liberation. Hailed as a revolutionary offering and called “groundbreaking” by Good Morning America, Do Better addresses inequity from an intersectional and spiritually aligned perspective. Ayo is the author of four books on Buddhism, two using Womanist theologies, and Casting Indra’s Net and Black and Buddhist. She works towards fairness for women, Muslims, and other minority groups.

• In 2012, she served as campaign manager for Kari Dziedzic’s reelection campaign for the Minnesota State Senate.
• She has served as a curate at Christ Church Cathedral and as Canon Missioner for Racial and Economic Equity, and Canon Missioner for Kairos West Community Center for the Cathedral of All Souls, in Asheville, NC.
• She defeated Republican Lacy Johnson and Legal Marijuana Now Party candidate Michael Moore in the November 3 general election, with 64.3% of the vote to Johnson’s 25.8% and Moore’s 9.5%.
• Omar supports broader access to student loan forgiveness programs, as well as free tuition for college students whose family income is below $125,000.
• Since that time, she has become a much sought-after speaker to groups as varied as business associations, professional conferences, elected officials and church and civic organizations.

Born in Somalia, Rep. Omar and her family fled the country’s civil war when she was eight. As a legislator, Rep. Omar is committed to fighting for the shared values of the 5th District, values that put people at the center of our democracy. She sits on the House Education and Workforce Committee, where she is on the Workforce Protections as well as the Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) subcommittees. Congressman Keith Ellison informed her that he would be running for the office of Minnesota attorney general, vacating his seat representing Minnesota’s 5th congressional district. Credible news organizations assiduously fact-checked these claims and found no evidence to support them.

After the success of those campaigns, Omar worked on Minneapolis City Councilman Andrew Johnson’s successful 2013 bid for an open seat and became his senior policy aide in 2014. Ilhan Omar (born October 4, 1982, Mogadishu, Somalia) is an American policy analyst, organizer, public speaker, advocate, and politician who began representing Minnesota’s 5th congressional district, which includes Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs, in 2019. At the same time, opposition argues these attacks reflect substantive concerns about conduct and policy positions, not merely identity, creating competing narratives that drive partisan debate .

Minnesota legislature

In February 2023, the Republican-controlled House voted to remove Omar from her seat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, citing past comments she had made about Israel and concerns over her objectivity. Her congressional district includes all of Minneapolis and some of its first-ring suburbs. Ilhan Abdullahi Omar (born October 4, 1982) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Minnesota’s 5th congressional district since 2019.

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In response, Buck was removed from the National Republican Congressional Committee’s Young Guns program. In December 2019, George Buck, another Republican running for Congress, also suggested that Omar be hanged for treason. In November 2019, Danielle Stella, Omar’s Republican opponent for Congress, was banned from Twitter for suggesting that Omar be hanged for treason if found guilty of passing information to Iran. In May 2019, Carlineo was released from custody and placed on house arrest. According to prosecutors, Hasson is a self-described “long time White Nationalist” and former skinhead who wanted to use violence to “establish a white homeland.” Prosecutors also alleged that Hasson was in contact with an American neo-Nazi leader, stockpiled weapons, and compiled a hit list.

In 2012, she served as campaign manager for Kari Dziedzic’s reelection campaign for the Minnesota State Senate. Omar was a policy fellow at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs. She graduated from North Dakota State University in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree, majoring in political science and international studies. She has spoken about school bullying she endured during her time in Virginia, stimulated by her distinctive Somali appearance and wearing of the hijab. She and her family fled Somalia to escape the Somali Civil War and spent four years in a Dadaab refugee camp in Garissa County, Kenya. She is also one of the first two Muslim women (along with Rashida Tlaib) to serve in Congress.

One of those efforts, led by Representative Nancy Mace, failed on September 17, 2025, with four Republicans joining all Democrats to kill the measure. On September 10, 2025, Omar condemned the assassination of Charlie Kirk, saying, “political violence is completely unacceptable and indefensible.” She called conservatives who blamed the left for the shooting “full of s—” and reposted a video calling Kirk a “stochastic terrorist” who “with his last dying words … was spewing racist dogwhistles”. Omar has very unfavorable ratings among Republican respondents and favorable ratings among Democratic respondents. A CBS News and YouGov poll of almost 2,100 American adults conducted from July 17 to 19 found that Republican respondents were more aware of Omar than Democratic respondents.

In February 2019, the FBI arrested United States Coast Guard Lieutenant Christopher Paul Hasson, who was allegedly plotting to assassinate various journalists and political figures in the United States, including Omar. That she believed U.S. foreign policy and economic sanctions are aimed at regime change and have contributed to the “devastation in Venezuela”. She described Trump’s action as a “U.S. backed coup” and said that the U.S. should not “hand pick” foreign leaders and should support “Mexico, Uruguay & the Vatican’s efforts to facilitate a peaceful dialogue.” In response to criticisms of her comments, Omar wrote that “No one is defending Maduro” and that opposing US intervention is not the equivalent of supporting the existing leadership of a country. Following the murder of Floyd, Omar supported the police abolition movement in Minneapolis that sought to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department, saying that the department had “proven themselves beyond reform.” Omar hoped to see a new police department that would be modeled after the Camden County Police Department in New Jersey.citation needed