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"Hands off [han Omar" Black Women leaders rally in
front of the US Capitol
By mickielynn on 2019-05-02 07:53:40
[caption id="attachment_12419" alig gn—"alignnone" width="600"]
} 5 adil US Rep. Ilhan Omar at rally
in her support by Black Women leaders. In front of the US Capitol, on April 30, 2019,. Photo from Twitter[/caption] Ilhan
Omar was elected a Representative for the 5th Congressional District of Minnesota in the 2018 election. At the time she was
one of two Muslim women, the first immigrant from Somalia and the first woman to wear a hijab on the House floor.
During her tenure so far she has been very progressive and has broken the congressional taboo about speaking out on the
suffering of Palestinians. Some have equated her statements with antisemitism but she has always supported Jews as well as
Muslims, Palestinians, and people of color. For her outspokenness she has received criticism, especially from right wing
politicians and from president Trump. This has resulted in death threats. On April 12, 2019, after she spoke out about
blaming all Muslims for the attacks on the World Trade Center, the president tweeted a video that alternated her speech to
CAIR with images of the attacks on 9/11. After that time the threats have increased many fold and two men (one in Florida
and one in New York) have been arrested for threatening her life directly. She also makes a tempting target for Trump since
he has a long history of criticizing Black women political leaders. In addition Representative Omar is also a Muslim, an
immigrant, and wears a hijab. And she really irritates our president, who unconditionally supports Israel, by supporting BDS
and other nonviolent methods of ending the occupation of Palestinian lands. [caption id="attachment_12416"
align="alignright" width="428"] Representative Ilhan
Omar of Minnesota poses for a portrait during the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival at Spring Studio on April 20, 2018, in New
York City. Photo by Erik Tanner/Contour/Getty[/caption] Many have been worried about the attacks on Rep. Omar and the
threats of violence as well as the continued targeting and character assassination by our divisive and hateful president. To
call out the danger Angela Davis, Barbara Ransby, other freshman representatives, State Representative Nina Turner, Alicia
Garza and several black activist groups, including representatives from Black Lives Matter and 100 Black women, gathered
in front of the Capitol to demand Democratic leaders call out President Trump for "inciting violence against
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar." Congresswoman Omar was also there and spoke eloquently. [caption id="attachment_12413"
—"
ali n=" alignright width="600"]
WOMEN
et ee Wi : © April 30, 2019 black women
rally at us capitol. Speaking, Rep. Ayanna Pressley. Leaders: Barbara Ransby and Angela Davis at rally for Ilhan Omar after
increased death threats and attacks from Trump. Photo from Democracy Now![/caption]
Embedded iframe at
https://web.archive.org/web/20210000000000/https://www.democracynow.org/embed/story/2019/5/I/hands_off _ilhan_omar_angel<
This is a 10 minute video from the rally that features a few of those who spoke on Tuesday and explained their reasons for
being there and also their own experiences of being silenced as black women and women of color. [caption
id="attachment_12418" align="alignnone" width="600"]
Rashida Harbi Tlaib,
Congresswoman from Detroit Michigan, photo from The Hill[/caption] Although those who want to silence Congresswoman
Omar frequently repeat attacks based on her statements about Israel and Palestine, and about her experiences as a Muslim,
this is just a small part of the work that she does as a member of the Progressive Caucus in the House of Representatives.
She has recently taken a leading role in the issue of Medicare for all, has supported the Green New Deal and has joined the
efforts to stop a US military intervention in Venezuela. [caption id="attachment_12415" align="alignnone" width="600"]
fe! Representative Ilhan Omar, a
Minnesota Democrat, speaks to reporters in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on March 15. She has changed the
conversation about Israel. Photo, Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty[/caption] To return briefly to how Ilhan Omar views the
attacks by the “occupant of the White House" here's one brief quote:
"When this occupant of the White House chooses to attack me, we know -- we know -- that that attack isn't for
Ilhan," Omar continued. "That attack is the continuation of the attacks that he has leveled against women,
against people of color, against immigrants, against refugees and certainly against Muslims."
Finally, if you want to hear her whole speech at the April 30th event, here's the video on Democracy Now! or you can read
the transcript there if your prefer. The video, including the introduction, is about 18 minutes long.
Embedded iframe at
https://web.archive.org/web/20210000000000/https://www.democracynow.org/embed/story/2019/5/1/im_a_survivor_of _war_i
